PURPOSE: to conclude the Agreements in the form of an
Exchange of Letters between the EU and Australia, Brazil, Canada,
Hong Kong, India and Japan pursuant to the General Agreement on
Trade in Services (GATS) 1994, relating to the modifications of the
commitments in the schedules of the Republic of Bulgaria and
Romania in the course of their accession to the European
Union.
PROPOSED ACT: Council Decision.
ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: Council may adopt the
act only if Parliament has given its consent to the
act.
BACKGROUND: each Member of the Word Trade Organisation
(WTO) has annexed to the General Agreement on Trade in Services
(GATS) a list of specific commitments which includes the conditions
of market access and national treatment for each service sector
and, where applicable, of exemptions to the Most-Favoured Nation
(MFN) clause.
The European Communities and its Member States at the
time submitted at the end of the Uruguay Round (1994), a single
schedule of commitments and of MFN exemptions, which reflected
their obligations vis-à-vis third countries
(EC-12).
In 2003, the European Communities launched the
consolidation of the EC-12 GATS schedule and of the 13 separate
GATS schedules of the EC Member States that joined the EC in 1995
and 2004 (i.e., Austria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia,
Finland, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia,
Slovenia and Sweden).
The negotiations with WTO Members and the
certification process of the new EC-25 GATS schedule were concluded
at the end of 2006. The conclusion of the agreements signed with
the different affected WTO Members is underway (awaiting
ratification in five Member States).
Following the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the
EU, their GATS schedules have to be consolidated with that of the
EU-25 and the process of consolidation of the certified EU-25 GATS
schedule and of schedules of the Republic of Bulgaria and Romania
has been launched (EU-27).
With a Communication pursuant to Article V of the
GATS, the European Communities and its Member States notified its
intention to modify the commitments included in the list of
commitments attached to the Communication in view of the accession
of the Republic of Bulgaria and Romania to the EU (EU
27).
On 31 January 2008, the Council authorised the
Commission to open negotiations with certain other Members of the
WTO under Article XXI of the General Agreement on Trade in Services
(GATS) 1994, with a view of reaching an agreement on any necessary
compensatory adjustment resulting from the modification of GATS
trade commitments as a consequence of the accession of Bulgaria and
Romania to the European Union.
Following the submission of that Communication,
Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, India, Hong Kong, Japan and
Mexico submitted respective claims of interest.
Pursuant to the procedures for the implementation of
Article XXI of the GATS, the modifying Member and any Member
considering itself affected shall negotiate with a view to reaching
an agreement within three months following the last date on which a
claim of interest may be made.
Negotiations with Australia, Brazil, Canada, India,
Hong Kong and Japan resulted in the draft Agreements in the form of
an Exchange of Letters that were initialled by all the
parties.
It is now necessary to approve the Agreements in the
form of an Exchange of Letters on behalf of the European
Union.
LEGAL BASIS: Article 207(1) and the first subparagraph
of Article 207(4), in conjunction with Article 218(6)(a) of the
Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).
IMPACT ASSESSMENT: no impact assessment was
undertaken.
CONTENT: with this proposed Decision, the Council is
called upon to approve, on behalf of the Union, the Agreements in
the form of an Exchange of Letters between the European Union and
Australia, Brazil, Canada, Hong Kong, India and Japan pursuant to
Article XXI of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS)
1994, relating to the modification of commitments in the schedules
of Bulgaria and Romania in the course of their accession to the
European Union.
The text of the Agreements is annexed to this
Decision.
BUDGETARY IMPLICATIONS: the proposal has no impact on
the EU budget.