{"change_dates":[],"dossier":{"amendments":[{"authors":"Maurice Ponga","changes":{},"committee":["DEVE"],"date":"2018-10-19T00:00:00","id":"PE629.501-1","location":[["Draft legislative resolution","Paragraph 1"]],"meps":[96931],"meta":{"created":"2019-07-03T06:02:12"},"new":["1. Gives its consent to the proposal for a","Council decision;"],"old":["1. Declines to give its consent to the","proposal for a Council decision;"],"orig_lang":"en","peid":"PE629.501v01-00","reference":"2018/0291(NLE)","seq":"1","src":"http://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/DEVE-AM-629501_EN.pdf"},{"authors":"Eleni Theocharous","changes":{},"committee":["DEVE"],"date":"2018-10-19T00:00:00","id":"PE629.501-2","location":[["Draft legislative resolution","Paragraph 1"]],"meps":[25704],"meta":{"created":"2019-07-03T06:02:12"},"new":["1. Gives its consent to the proposal for a","Council decision;"],"old":["1. Declines to give its consent to the","proposal for a Council decision;"],"orig_lang":"en","peid":"PE629.501v01-00","reference":"2018/0291(NLE)","seq":"2","src":"http://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/DEVE-AM-629501_EN.pdf"},{"authors":"Doru-Claudian Frunzulic\u0103, C\u00e9cile Kashetu Kyenge","changes":{},"committee":["DEVE"],"date":"2018-10-19T00:00:00","id":"PE629.501-3","location":[["Draft legislative resolution","Paragraph 1"]],"meps":[124790,124801],"meta":{"created":"2019-07-03T06:02:12"},"new":["1. Gives its consent to the proposal for a","Council decision;"],"old":["1. Declines to give its consent to the","proposal for a Council decision;"],"orig_lang":"en","peid":"PE629.501v01-00","reference":"2018/0291(NLE)","seq":"3","src":"http://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/DEVE-AM-629501_EN.pdf"},{"authors":"Heidi Hautala on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group","changes":{},"committee":["INTA"],"date":"2018-11-08T00:00:00","id":"PE630.386-1","location":[["Draft legislative resolution","Paragraph 1"]],"meps":[2054],"meta":{"created":"2019-07-03T06:03:53"},"new":["1. Withholds its consent to Samoa\u2019s","accession to the agreement until Samoa is","no longer on the EU list of non-","cooperative jurisdictions."],"old":["1. Gives its consent to Samoa\u2019s accession","to the agreement."],"orig_lang":"en","peid":"PE630.386v01-00","reference":"2018/0291(NLE)","seq":"1","src":"http://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/INTA-AM-630386_EN.pdf"},{"authors":"Anne-Marie Mineur, Lola S\u00e1nchez Caldentey, Martin Schirdewan on behalf of the GUE/NGL Group","changes":{},"committee":["INTA"],"date":"2018-11-08T00:00:00","id":"PE630.386-2","justification":"Samoa is a tax haven, offering a harmful regime, which facilitates tax avoidance. Trade with\nSamoa implies the risk of facilitating illegal cash flows into the Union. The accession of\nSamoa to the Interim Partnership Agreement should be declined as long as the country does\nnot abolish its harmful tax regime and adheres to all of the Council\u2019s requirements to counter\ntax avoidance.","location":[["Draft legislative resolution","Paragraph 1"]],"meps":[125037,125035,190517],"meta":{"created":"2019-07-03T06:03:53"},"new":["1. Declines to give its consent to Samoa\u2019s","accession to the agreement;"],"old":["1. Gives its consent to Samoa\u2019s accession","to the agreement;"],"orig_lang":"en","peid":"PE630.386v01-00","reference":"2018/0291(NLE)","seq":"2","src":"http://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/INTA-AM-630386_EN.pdf"}],"changes":{"2018-08-18T04:25:40":[{"data":[{"body":"EC","commission":[],"date":"2018-07-23T00:00:00","docs":[{"celexid":"CELEX:52018PC0546:EN","title":"COM(2018)0546","type":"Legislative proposal published","url":"http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/docs_autres_institutions/commission_europeenne/com/2018/0546/COM_COM(2018)0546_EN.pdf"}],"type":"Legislative proposal published"}],"path":["activities"],"type":"added"},{"data":[],"path":["other"],"type":"added"},{"data":[{"body":"EP","committee":"DEVE","committee_full":"Development","responsible":false},{"body":"EP","committee":"INTA","committee_full":"International Trade","responsible":true},{"body":"EP","committee":"PECH","committee_full":"Fisheries","responsible":false}],"path":["committees"],"type":"added"},{"data":{},"path":["links"],"type":"added"},{"data":{"geographical_area":["Samoa"],"legal_basis":["Treaty on the Functioning of the EU TFEU 207","Treaty on the Functioning of the EU TFEU 218-p6a"],"reference":"2018/0291(NLE)","stage_reached":"Preparatory phase in Parliament","subject":["3.15.15.06 Fisheries agreements with Pacific countries","6.20.05 Multilateral and plurilateral economic and trade agreements and relations","6.40.06 Relations with ACP countries, conventions and generalities"],"subtype":"Consent by Parliament","summary":["See also"],"title":"EC/Pacific States Interim Partnership Agreement: accession of Samoa","type":"NLE - Non-legislative enactments"},"path":["procedure"],"type":"added"}],"2018-09-13T04:14:58":[{"data":["
PURPOSE: to approve, on behalf of the European Union\n(EU), Samoa's accession to the Interim Partnership Agreement\nbetween the European Union, of the one part, and the Pacific\nStates, of the other part.
\nPROPOSED ACT:\nCouncil Decision.
\nROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: Council may adopt the\nact only if Parliament has given its consent to the\nact.
\nBACKGROUND: on 12 June 2002, the Council authorised\nthe Commission to open negotiations for Economic Partnership\nAgreements with the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of\nStates.
\nOn 30 July 2009, the European Union signed the Interim\nPartnership Agreement between the European Community, of the one\npart, and the Pacific States, of the other part, which establishes\na framework for an Economic Partnership Agreement. The Interim\nPartnership Agreement has been provisionally applied by Papua New\nGuinea and by Fiji since 20 December 2009 and 28 July 2014,\nrespectively.
\nOn 5 February 2018, Samoa submitted an accession\nrequest together with a market access offer to the Council. The\nCommission found Samoa's offer acceptable and concluded\nnegotiations with Samoa on 23 April 2018. Samoa's accession\nshould now be approved on behalf of the European Union.
\nCONTENT: with this proposal, the Commission invites\nthe Council to approve, on behalf of the Union, Samoa's\naccession to the Interim Partnership Agreement between the\nEuropean Community, of the one part, and the Pacific States, of the\nother part.
\n\nThe EPA is a\ndevelopment-oriented trade agreement, which offers asymmetric\nmarket access to Samoa and allows it to shield sensitive\nsectors from liberalisation, while providing a large number of\nsafeguards and a clause for infant industry protection. It further\ncontains provisions on the rules of origin that facilitate Samoa's\nexports into the EU.
\n\nOver the course of its\nimplementation, the EPA will largely relieve EU exporters of\nindustrial products to Samoa from paying customs duties. It\nsatisfies the criteria established in Article XXIV of the GATT 1994\n(to eliminate duties and other restrictive regulations of commerce\nwith respect to substantially all trade between the parties) i.e.:\n80 % of EU exports are covered in 15 years. Samoa will benefit from\nmaintaining their duty-free quota-free market access into the EU\nmarket.
\n\nThe EPA also establishes a\nset of disciplines in the areas of sustainable development;\ntechnical barriers to trade; and Sanitary and Phytosanitary\nmeasures among others. There is a possibility for the EU to avail\nitself of the bilateral dispute settlement mechanism foreseen under\nthe Agreement.
\n\nSamoa graduated from the\nLeast Developed Countries category in 2014; as such it continues to\nbenefit from the 'Everything But Arms' initiative which offers its\nexports duty-free quotafree market access into the EU for a\ntransitional period ending on 31 December 2018.
\nAs of then, the\nstandard form of the Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP)\nwill apply to Samoa's exports to the EU, which is however less\ngenerous than the EBA.
\nTo maintain full\nduty-free-quota-free access to the EU market, Samoa would need to\nhave joined the existing EPA between the EU, Fiji and PNG as of 1\nJanuary 2019. It is therefore foreseen that the EU and Samoa shall\nprovisionally apply the Agreement subject to notifying each other\nin writing of the completion of the procedures necessary for this\npurpose in accordance with Article 76(3) of the Agreement.
\nThe scope of the agreement does not cover tax good\ngovernance. The Commission will use the context of the EPA\nCommittee meeting to raise with the Samoan authorities their\nsituation towards the EU list, in particular to advocate for tax\nreforms in line with the EU listing criteria.
\nThe proposal provides that the approval of the\naccession must not be construed as conferring rights or imposing\nobligations which can be directly invoked before Union or Member\nState courts or tribunals.
\nPURPOSE: to approve, on behalf of the European Union\n(EU), Samoa's accession to the Interim Partnership Agreement\nbetween the European Union, of the one part, and the Pacific\nStates, of the other part.
\nPROPOSED ACT:\nCouncil Decision.
\nROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: Council may adopt the\nact only if Parliament has given its consent to the\nact.
\nBACKGROUND: on 12 June 2002, the Council authorised\nthe Commission to open negotiations for Economic Partnership\nAgreements with the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of\nStates.
\nOn 30 July 2009, the European Union signed the Interim\nPartnership Agreement between the European Community, of the one\npart, and the Pacific States, of the other part, which establishes\na framework for an Economic Partnership Agreement. The Interim\nPartnership Agreement has been provisionally applied by Papua New\nGuinea and by Fiji since 20 December 2009 and 28 July 2014,\nrespectively.
\nOn 5 February 2018, Samoa submitted an accession\nrequest together with a market access offer to the Council. The\nCommission found Samoa's offer acceptable and concluded\nnegotiations with Samoa on 23 April 2018. Samoa's accession\nshould now be approved on behalf of the European Union.
\nCONTENT: with this proposal, the Commission invites\nthe Council to approve, on behalf of the Union, Samoa's\naccession to the Interim Partnership Agreement between the\nEuropean Community, of the one part, and the Pacific States, of the\nother part.
\n\nThe EPA is a\ndevelopment-oriented trade agreement, which offers asymmetric\nmarket access to Samoa and allows it to shield sensitive\nsectors from liberalisation, while providing a large number of\nsafeguards and a clause for infant industry protection. It further\ncontains provisions on the rules of origin that facilitate Samoa's\nexports into the EU.
\n\nOver the course of its\nimplementation, the EPA will largely relieve EU exporters of\nindustrial products to Samoa from paying customs duties. It\nsatisfies the criteria established in Article XXIV of the GATT 1994\n(to eliminate duties and other restrictive regulations of commerce\nwith respect to substantially all trade between the parties) i.e.:\n80 % of EU exports are covered in 15 years. Samoa will benefit from\nmaintaining their duty-free quota-free market access into the EU\nmarket.
\n\nThe EPA also establishes a\nset of disciplines in the areas of sustainable development;\ntechnical barriers to trade; and Sanitary and Phytosanitary\nmeasures among others. There is a possibility for the EU to avail\nitself of the bilateral dispute settlement mechanism foreseen under\nthe Agreement.
\n\nSamoa graduated from the\nLeast Developed Countries category in 2014; as such it continues to\nbenefit from the 'Everything But Arms' initiative which offers its\nexports duty-free quotafree market access into the EU for a\ntransitional period ending on 31 December 2018.
\nAs of then, the\nstandard form of the Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP)\nwill apply to Samoa's exports to the EU, which is however less\ngenerous than the EBA.
\nTo maintain full\nduty-free-quota-free access to the EU market, Samoa would need to\nhave joined the existing EPA between the EU, Fiji and PNG as of 1\nJanuary 2019. It is therefore foreseen that the EU and Samoa shall\nprovisionally apply the Agreement subject to notifying each other\nin writing of the completion of the procedures necessary for this\npurpose in accordance with Article 76(3) of the Agreement.
\nThe scope of the agreement does not cover tax good\ngovernance. The Commission will use the context of the EPA\nCommittee meeting to raise with the Samoan authorities their\nsituation towards the EU list, in particular to advocate for tax\nreforms in line with the EU listing criteria.
\nThe proposal provides that the approval of the\naccession must not be construed as conferring rights or imposing\nobligations which can be directly invoked before Union or Member\nState courts or tribunals.
\n