{"change_dates":[],"dossier":{"amendments":[],"changes":{"2014-11-10T00:53:04":[{"data":[{"body":"EC","commission":[{"Commissioner":"ASHTON Catherine","DG":"External Relations"}],"date":"2008-12-12T00:00:00","docs":[{"celexid":"CELEX:52008PC0853(02):EN","text":["
PURPOSE: to\n conclude a Euro-Mediterranean Association Agreement between the European\n Community and its Member States of the one part, and the Syrian Arab\n Republic, of the other part.
PROPOSED ACT: Council Decision.
BACKGROUND: Syria’s relations with the European Community are presently covered by the Co-operation\n Agreement signed on 18 July 1977 (entered into force on 1 January 1978), as\n modified by subsequent protocols. The Council adopted its negotiating\n directives on 18 December 1997 and the Commission formally launched the\n negotiations for an Association Agreement in May 1998. Progress was very slow\n in the first four years. The Agreement was submitted to the Council on 17\n December 2004 however the Council still has not reached an agreement on its\n signature due to political considerations.
In the light of\n recent positive developments in Syria’s regional policy, notably regarding\n relations with Lebanon and Israel, there is now a consensus within the EU\n that the draft Agreement should be updated with a view to its early\n conclusion. The Commission and Syria have accordingly agreed on the technical\n adaptations needed to update the 2004\n draft Association Agreement and a revised Agreement was initialled on 14\n December 2008. The adaptations made are of purely technical nature, they\n reflect developments since 2004 with an impact on the implementation of the\n Agreement, notably the latest EU enlargement; the reform of the Syrian custom\n tariff schedule; changes in the Harmonised System and in the EC Combined\n Nomenclature.
CONTENT: the\n proposed revised Association Agreement between the EU and Syria will establish a new, closer relationship within the context of the\n Euro-Mediterranean partnership launched by the 1995 Barcelona Declaration. It\n will contribute to peace and security in the region and will stimulate trade\n and economic relations between Syria and the EU, and Syria and its Mediterranean partners. The proposed agreement would be the last missing\n piece in building the Euro-Mediterranean Free Trade Area in 2010 as\n set up in the Barcelona Declaration. The Barcelona Declaration underlines the\n EU’s priority to strengthen its security, economic and social relations with\n the partners of the southern Mediterranean Basin. Agreements with Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, Israel, the Palestinian Territories (PLO), Jordan and Lebanon have already been signed; only Syria remains.
Main\n provisions of the agreement: the EU-Syria\n Association Agreement will have an unlimited duration and will open\n the way to deepen relations in a wide number of fields, based on reciprocity\n and partnership.
Respect for\n the principles of democracy and human rights will constitute an essential\n element of the Agreement.
In line with the\n Council Decision of 17 November 2003 on the fight against the proliferation\n of weapons of mass destruction, the Agreement also contains as an essential\n element a commitment to fulfilling existing obligations under disarmament\n and non-proliferation instruments.
The EU-Syria\n Association Agreement is similar in pattern to other Euro-Mediterranean\n Association Agreements, but contains more far-reaching and substantial\n provisions in a number of areas: non-proliferation, counter-terrorism,\n comprehensive tariff dismantlement on agricultural products, technical\n barriers to trade, sanitary and phyto-sanitary measures, trade facilitation,\n right of establishment and services, government procurement, intellectual\n property rights and trade dispute settlement mechanisms.
The Agreement\n focuses on the following main elements:
It also provides\n for:
It should be\n noted the provisional application of trade and trade related provisions is\n also foreseen.
\nThe Lisbon\n Treaty, which entered into force on 1 December 2009, amended the EU's two\n core treaties, the Treaty on European Union (TEU) and the Treaty establishing\n the European Community (EC Treaty). The latter was renamed the Treaty on the\n Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).
These changes\n had various consequences for many ongoing procedures. First of all, the\n articles of the TEU and of the old EC Treaty that constitute the legal basis\n of all the proposals founded on those Treaties were renumbered in\n accordance with the table of equivalences mentioned in Article 5 of the\n Lisbon Treaty.
In addition,\n some proposals underwent a change to their legal basis going beyond a mere\n change to their numbering, and this resulted in changes to the type of\n procedure.
The Lisbon\n Treaty also introduced new concepts of decision-making procedure. The\n old \"codecision procedure\" was extended to new areas and renamed\n the \"ordinary legislative procedure\". A new \"consent\n procedure\" replaced the old \"assent procedure\". New\n interinstitutional procedures were also set up for the adoption of certain\n non-legislative acts, for example the conclusion of some international\n agreements.
The ongoing proposals\n concerned by these changes were formally modified by the Commission in a\n Communication published on 2 December 2009 (COM(2009)0665).
In the case of\n the proposal for a Council Decision on the conclusion of a Euro-Mediterranean\n Association Agreement between the European Community and its Member States of\n the one part, and the Syrian Arab Republic, of the other part, the entry\n into force of the Lisbon Treaty had the following impacts:
· \n the old legal basis – Treaty/EC/Art.300(2) and (3) second para, Art 310. - became\n Art 217, Art 218 (6)(a) of the TFEU. Please note that the numbering of the\n old legal basis corresponds to the consolidated version of the Treaty that\n was applicable immediately before the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty,\n and may differ from the references in the original Commission proposal;
· \n the proposal, which had previously fallen\n under the old assent procedure (AVC), was classified as an interinstitutional\n non-legislative procedure (NLE).
\nThe Council has adopted a regulation and\n a decision providing for an embargo on exports to Syria of arms and equipment\n that could be used for internal repression, as well as a visa ban and an\n assets freeze.
The visa ban and the assets freeze\n targets 13 officials and associates of the Syrian regime who have been\n identified by the Council as being responsible for the violent repression against\n the civilian population in Syria.
The decision and the regulation, together\n with the list of persons subject to the restrictive measures, will be\n published in the Official Journal on 10 May 2011.
\nPURPOSE: to\n conclude a Euro-Mediterranean Association Agreement between the European\n Community and its Member States of the one part, and the Syrian Arab\n Republic, of the other part.
PROPOSED ACT: Council Decision.
BACKGROUND: Syria’s relations with the European Community are presently covered by the Co-operation\n Agreement signed on 18 July 1977 (entered into force on 1 January 1978), as\n modified by subsequent protocols. The Council adopted its negotiating\n directives on 18 December 1997 and the Commission formally launched the\n negotiations for an Association Agreement in May 1998. Progress was very slow\n in the first four years. The Agreement was submitted to the Council on 17\n December 2004 however the Council still has not reached an agreement on its\n signature due to political considerations.
In the light of\n recent positive developments in Syria’s regional policy, notably regarding\n relations with Lebanon and Israel, there is now a consensus within the EU\n that the draft Agreement should be updated with a view to its early\n conclusion. The Commission and Syria have accordingly agreed on the technical\n adaptations needed to update the 2004\n draft Association Agreement and a revised Agreement was initialled on 14\n December 2008. The adaptations made are of purely technical nature, they\n reflect developments since 2004 with an impact on the implementation of the\n Agreement, notably the latest EU enlargement; the reform of the Syrian custom\n tariff schedule; changes in the Harmonised System and in the EC Combined\n Nomenclature.
CONTENT: the\n proposed revised Association Agreement between the EU and Syria will establish a new, closer relationship within the context of the\n Euro-Mediterranean partnership launched by the 1995 Barcelona Declaration. It\n will contribute to peace and security in the region and will stimulate trade\n and economic relations between Syria and the EU, and Syria and its Mediterranean partners. The proposed agreement would be the last missing\n piece in building the Euro-Mediterranean Free Trade Area in 2010 as\n set up in the Barcelona Declaration. The Barcelona Declaration underlines the\n EU’s priority to strengthen its security, economic and social relations with\n the partners of the southern Mediterranean Basin. Agreements with Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, Israel, the Palestinian Territories (PLO), Jordan and Lebanon have already been signed; only Syria remains.
Main\n provisions of the agreement: the EU-Syria\n Association Agreement will have an unlimited duration and will open\n the way to deepen relations in a wide number of fields, based on reciprocity\n and partnership.
Respect for\n the principles of democracy and human rights will constitute an essential\n element of the Agreement.
In line with the\n Council Decision of 17 November 2003 on the fight against the proliferation\n of weapons of mass destruction, the Agreement also contains as an essential\n element a commitment to fulfilling existing obligations under disarmament\n and non-proliferation instruments.
The EU-Syria\n Association Agreement is similar in pattern to other Euro-Mediterranean\n Association Agreements, but contains more far-reaching and substantial\n provisions in a number of areas: non-proliferation, counter-terrorism,\n comprehensive tariff dismantlement on agricultural products, technical\n barriers to trade, sanitary and phyto-sanitary measures, trade facilitation,\n right of establishment and services, government procurement, intellectual\n property rights and trade dispute settlement mechanisms.
The Agreement\n focuses on the following main elements:
It also provides\n for:
It should be\n noted the provisional application of trade and trade related provisions is\n also foreseen.
\nThe Lisbon\n Treaty, which entered into force on 1 December 2009, amended the EU's two\n core treaties, the Treaty on European Union (TEU) and the Treaty establishing\n the European Community (EC Treaty). The latter was renamed the Treaty on the\n Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).
These changes\n had various consequences for many ongoing procedures. First of all, the\n articles of the TEU and of the old EC Treaty that constitute the legal basis\n of all the proposals founded on those Treaties were renumbered in\n accordance with the table of equivalences mentioned in Article 5 of the\n Lisbon Treaty.
In addition,\n some proposals underwent a change to their legal basis going beyond a mere\n change to their numbering, and this resulted in changes to the type of\n procedure.
The Lisbon\n Treaty also introduced new concepts of decision-making procedure. The\n old \"codecision procedure\" was extended to new areas and renamed\n the \"ordinary legislative procedure\". A new \"consent\n procedure\" replaced the old \"assent procedure\". New\n interinstitutional procedures were also set up for the adoption of certain\n non-legislative acts, for example the conclusion of some international\n agreements.
The ongoing proposals\n concerned by these changes were formally modified by the Commission in a\n Communication published on 2 December 2009 (COM(2009)0665).
In the case of\n the proposal for a Council Decision on the conclusion of a Euro-Mediterranean\n Association Agreement between the European Community and its Member States of\n the one part, and the Syrian Arab Republic, of the other part, the entry\n into force of the Lisbon Treaty had the following impacts:
· \n the old legal basis – Treaty/EC/Art.300(2) and (3) second para, Art 310. - became\n Art 217, Art 218 (6)(a) of the TFEU. Please note that the numbering of the\n old legal basis corresponds to the consolidated version of the Treaty that\n was applicable immediately before the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty,\n and may differ from the references in the original Commission proposal;
· \n the proposal, which had previously fallen\n under the old assent procedure (AVC), was classified as an interinstitutional\n non-legislative procedure (NLE).
\nThe Council has adopted a regulation and\n a decision providing for an embargo on exports to Syria of arms and equipment\n that could be used for internal repression, as well as a visa ban and an\n assets freeze.
The visa ban and the assets freeze\n targets 13 officials and associates of the Syrian regime who have been\n identified by the Council as being responsible for the violent repression against\n the civilian population in Syria.
The decision and the regulation, together\n with the list of persons subject to the restrictive measures, will be\n published in the Official Journal on 10 May 2011.
\n