title: 2007/171/EC: Commission Decision of 16 March 2007 laying down the network requirements for the Schengen Information System II (3rd pillar)

text:
               20.3.2007

               EN

               Official Journal of the European Union

               L 79/29

      COMMISSION DECISION

   of 16 March 2007
   laying down the network requirements for the Schengen Information System II (3rd pillar)
   (2007/171/EC)
   THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
   Having regard to the Treaty on European Union,
   Having regard to Council Decision 2001/886/JHA of 6 December 2001 on the development of the second generation of the Schengen Information System (SIS II) (1), and in particular Article 4(a) thereof,
   Whereas:

               (1)

               In order to develop SIS II it is necessary to set out technical specifications concerning the communication network, its components, and the specific network requirements.

               (2)

               Appropriate arrangements, in particular as regards the elements of the uniform national interface located in Member States, should be put in place between the Commission and the Member States.

               (3)

               This Decision is without prejudice to the adoption in future of other Commission Decisions related to the development of SIS II, in particular on the development of the security requirements.

               (4)

               Both Council Regulation (EC) No 2424/2001 (2) and Decision 2001/886/JHA govern the development of the SIS II. In order to ensure that there will be one single implementing process for the development of SIS II as a whole, the provisions of this Decision should mirror the provisions of the Commission's Decision laying down the network requirements for SIS II to be taken in application of Regulation (EC) No 2424/2001.

               (5)

               The United Kingdom is taking part in this Decision, in accordance with Article 5 of the Protocol integrating the Schengen acquis into the framework of the European Union annexed to the EU Treaty and to the EC Treaty, and Article 8(2) of Council Decision 2000/365/EC of 29 May 2000, concerning the request of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to take part in some of the provisions of the Schengen acquis
                   (3).

               (6)

               Ireland is taking part in this Decision in accordance with Article 5 of the Protocol integrating the Schengen acquis into the framework of the European Union annexed to the EU Treaty and to the EC Treaty, and Article 5(1) and 6(2) of Council Decision 2002/192/EC of 28 February 2002 concerning Ireland's request to take part in some of the provisions of the Schengen acquis
                   (4).

               (7)

               As regards Iceland and Norway, this Decision constitutes a development of the provisions of the Schengen acquis within the meaning of the Agreement concluded by the Council of the European Union and the Republic of Iceland and the Kingdom of Norway concerning the association of those two States with the implementation, application and development of the Schengen acquis which fall within the area referred to in Article 1, point G of Council Decision 1999/437/EC (5) on certain arrangements for the application of that Agreement.

               (8)

               As regards Switzerland, this Decision constitutes a development of the provisions of the Schengen acquis within the meaning of the Agreement signed between the European Union, the European Community and the Swiss Confederation concerning the association of the Swiss Confederation with the implementation, application and development of the Schengen acquis, which fall within the area referred to in Article 1, point G of Council Decision 1999/437/EC read in conjunction with Article 4(1) of Council Decision 2004/849/EC on the signing, on behalf of the European Union, and on the provisional application of certain provisions of that Agreement (6).

               (9)

               This Decision constitutes an act building on the Schengen acquis or otherwise related to it within the meaning of Article 3(1) of the Act of Accession.

               (10)

               The measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee set up by Article 5(1) of Decision 2001/886/JHA,

         HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:
   Article 1
   The technical specifications related to the design of the physical architecture of the communication infrastructure of the SIS II shall be as set out in the Annex.

      Done at Brussels, 16 March 2007.

            For the Commission

         Franco FRATTINI

            Vice-president

      (1)  OJ L 328, 13.12.2001, p. 1.

      (2)  OJ L 328, 13.12.2001, p. 4. Regulation as amended by Regulation (EC) No 1988/2006 (OJ L 411, 30.12.2006, p. 1).

      (3)  OJ L 131, 1.6.2000, p. 43. Decision as amended by Decision 2004/926/EC (OJ L 395, 31.12.2004, p. 70).

      (4)  OJ L 64, 7.3.2002, p. 20.

      (5)  OJ L 176, 10.7.1999, p. 31.

      (6)  OJ L 368, 15.12.2004, p. 26.

      ANNEX
      CONTENTS

                  1.

               Introduction …

                  1.1.

               Acronyms and abbreviations …

                  2.

               General overview …

                  3.

               Geographical Coverage …

                  4.

               Network services …

                  4.1.

               Network layout …

                  4.2.

               Connection type principal CS-SIS — backup CS-SIS …

                  4.3.

               Bandwidth …

                  4.4.

               Classes of service …

                  4.5.

               Supported protocols …

                  4.6.

               Technical specifications …

                  4.6.1.

               IP addressing …

                  4.6.2.

               Support for IPv6 …

                  4.6.3.

               Static Route Injection …

                  4.6.4.

               Sustained Flow Rate …

                  4.6.5.

               Other specifications …

                  4.7.

               Resiliency …

                  5.

               Monitoring …

                  6.

               Generic services …

                  7.

               Availability …

                  8.

               Security services …

                  8.1.

               Network encryption …

                  8.2.

               Other security features …

                  9.

               Helpdesk and support structure …

                  10.

               Interaction with other systems …
            1.   Introduction
      This document describes the design of the communication network, its included components and the specific network requirements.
      1.1.   Acronyms and abbreviations
      This section describes the acronyms used throughout the document.

                  Acronyms and abbreviations

                  Explanation

                  BLNI

                  Backup Local National Interface

                  CEP

                  Central End Point

                  CNI

                  Central National Interface

                  CS

                  Central System

                  CS-SIS

                  Technical support function containing the SIS II database

                  DNS

                  Domain Name Server

                  FCIP

                  Fibre Channel over IP

                  FTP

                  File Transport Protocol

                  HTTP

                  Hyper Text Transfer Protocol

                  IP

                  Internet Protocol

                  LAN

                  Local Area Network

                  LNI

                  Local National Interface

                  Mbps

                  Megabits per second

                  MDC

                  Main Developer Contractor

                  N.SIS II

                  The national section in each Member State

                  NI-SIS

                  A uniform national interface

                  NTP

                  Network Time Protocol

                  SAN

                  Storage Area Network

                  SDH

                  Synchronous Digital Hierarchy

                  SIS II

                  Schengen Information System, second generation

                  SMTP

                  Simple Mail Transport Protocol

                  SNMP

                  Simple Network Management Protocol

                  s-TESTA

                  Secure Trans-European Services for Telematics between Administrations, is a measure of the IDABC Programme (Interoperable delivery of pan-European eGovernment services to public administrations, business and citizens. Decision of the European Parliament and Council 2004/387/EC of 21.4.2004).

                  TCP

                  Transmission Control Protocol

                  VIS

                  Visa Information System

                  VPN

                  Virtual Private Network

                  WAN

                  Wide Area Network

            2.   General overview
      The SIS II is composed of:

                  —

                  the central system (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Central SIS II’) consists of:

                              —

                              a technical support function (herein after referred to as ‘CS-SIS’) containing the SIS II database. The principal CS-SIS carries out technical supervision and administration and a backup CS-SIS is capable of ensuring all functionalities of the principal CS-SIS in case of failure of this system,

                              —

                              a uniform national interface (hereinafter referred to as ‘NI-SIS’);

                  —

                  a national section (hereinafter referred to as ‘N.SIS II’) in each of the Member States, consisting of the national data systems which communicate with the Central SIS II. An N.SIS II may contain a data file (hereinafter referred to as ‘national copy’), containing a complete or partial copy of the SIS II database,

                  —

                  a communication infrastructure between the CS-SIS and the NI-SIS (hereinafter referred to as ‘Communication Infrastructure’) that provides an encrypted virtual network dedicated to SIS II data and the exchange of data between Sirene Bureaux.

            The NI-SIS which consists of:

                  —

                  one Local National Interface (hereinafter referred to as ‘LNI’) in each Member State which is the interface that physically connect the Member State to the secure communication network and contain the encryption devices dedicated to SIS II and Sirene traffic. The LNI is located at the Member State premises,

                  —

                  an optional Backup Local National Interface (hereinafter referred to as ‘BLNI’) which has exact the same content and function as the LNI.

            The LNI and BLNI are to be used exclusively by the SIS II system and for Sirene exchange. The specific configuration of the LNI and BLNI will be specified and agreed with each individual Member State in order to take account of security requirements, the physical location and conditions of installation, including the provision of services by the network provider, meaning the physical s-TESTA connection may contain several VPN tunnels for other systems, for example VIS and Eurodac.

                  —

                  a Central National Interface (hereinafter referred to as ‘CNI’) which is an application securing access to the CS-SIS. Each Member State has separate logical access points to the CNI via a central firewall.

            The Communication Infrastructure between the CS-SIS and the NI-SIS consists of:

                  —

                  the network for Secure Trans-European Services for Telematics between Administrations (hereinafter referred to as ‘s-TESTA’) that provides an encrypted, virtual, private network dedicated to SIS II data and Sirene traffic.

            3.   Geographical Coverage
      The Communication Infrastructure must be able to cover and provide the required services to all Member States:
      All EU Member States (Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland, Sweden, United Kingdom) and Iceland, Norway, Switzerland.
      In addition, coverage of the accession countries Romania and Bulgaria needs to be catered for.
      Finally, the Communication Infrastructure must be able to be extended to any other country or entity acceding to the Central SIS II (e.g. Europol, Eurojust).
      4.   Network services
      Whenever a protocol or architecture is mentioned, it should be understood that equal future technologies, protocols and architecture also are acceptable.
      4.1.   Network layout
      The SIS II architecture makes use of centralised services, which are accessible from the different Member States. For resiliency purposes these centralised services are duplicated to two different locations namely Strasbourg in France and St Johann im Pongau in Austria, respectively the CS-SIS, CU and backup CS-SIS, BCU.
      The central units, main and backup, must be accessible from the different Member States. The participating countries may have multiple network access points, a LNI and a BLNI, to interconnect their National System to the central services.
      Apart from the main connectivity towards the central services, the Communication Infrastructure must also support bilateral supplementary information exchange between the Sirene offices of the different Member States.
      4.2.   Connection type principal CS-SIS — backup CS-SIS
      The required connection type for the interconnectivity between the principal CS-SIS and the backup CS-SIS must be an SDH ring or equivalent, meaning be open also for the new future architectures and technologies. The SDH infrastructure will be used to extend the local networks of both central units to create a seamless single LAN. This LAN will then be used for the continuous synchronisation between the CU and BCU.
      4.3.   Bandwidth
      A critical requirement of the Communication Infrastructure is the bandwidth size that it may grant to the different interconnected sites and its capability to support this bandwidth inside its backbone network.
      The bandwidth needed for the LNI and the optional BLNI will be different for each Member State, mainly dependent on the choices of using national copies, central searching and biometric data exchange.
      The actual sizes that the Communication Infrastructure decides to offer are irrelevant as long as they comply with the minimal need of each Member State.
      Each of the aforementioned site types may transfer large chunks of data (alphanumeric, biometric and complete documents) in either direction. Therefore, the Communication Infrastructure must supply sufficient minimal guaranteed upload and download speeds for each connection.
      The Communication Infrastructure must offer connection sizes varying from 2 Mbps up to 155 Mbps or higher. The network must supply sufficient minimal guaranteed upload and download speeds for each connection and it must be sized to support the total bandwidth size of the network access points.
      4.4.   Classes of service
      The Central SIS II will support the capability of prioritisation of queries/alerts. As a derived requirement, the Communication Infrastructure will also support the possibility of traffic prioritisation.
      The network prioritisation parameters are assumed to be set by the Central SIS II for all packets that require it. Weighted Fair Queuing will be used. This implies that the Communications Infrastructure must be able to take over the prioritisation assigned to the data packets on the source LAN and treat the packets accordingly within its own backbone network. Furthermore, at the remote site the Communication Infrastructure must deliver the initial packets containing the same prioritisation as set in the source LAN.
      4.5.   Supported protocols
      The Central SIS II will make use of several networking communication protocols. The Communications Infrastructure should support a wide set of network communication protocols. The standard protocols to be supported are HTTP, FTP, NTP, SMTP, SNMP and DNS.
      In addition to the standard protocols, the Communication Infrastructure must also be capable of handling different tunnelling protocols, SAN replication protocols and the proprietary Java-to-Java connection protocols of BEA WebLogic. The tunnelling protocols, e.g. IPsec in tunnel mode, will be used to transfer encrypted traffic to its destination.
      4.6.   Technical specifications
      4.6.1.   IP addressing
      The Communications Infrastructure must have a range of reserved IP addresses that may solely be used within that network. Within the reserved IP range, the Central SIS II will use a dedicated set of IP addresses that will not be used anywhere else.
      4.6.2.   Support for IPv6
      It can be assumed that the protocol used on the local networks of the Member States will be TCP/IP. However some sites will be based on version 4 while others will be based on version 6. The network access points must offer the possibility to act as a gateway and must be able to operate independently from the network protocols used in the Central SIS II as well as in the N.SIS II.
      4.6.3.   Static Route Injection
      The CU and BCU can use a single and identical IP address for their communication to the Member States. Therefore the Communication Infrastructure should support static route injection.
      4.6.4.   Sustained Flow Rate
      As long as the CU or BCU connection has a load rate less of 90 %, a given Member State must be able to sustain continually 100 % of its specified bandwidth.
      4.6.5.   Other specifications
      To support the CS-SIS, the Communication Infrastructure must at least comply with a minimum set of technical specifications:
      The transit delay must be (including the busy hours) less or equal to 150 ms in 95 % of packets and less than 200 ms in 100 % of packets.
      Its probability of packet loss must be (including the busy hours) less or equal to 10-4 in 95 % of packets and less than 10-3 in 100 % of packets
      The aforementioned specifications are to be considered for each access point separately.
      The connection between the CU and BCU must have a round trip delay less or equal to 60 ms.
      4.7.   Resiliency
      The CS-SIS has been designed with high availability as a requirement. For this reason the system have integrated resiliency against component malfunctions by duplicating all equipment.
      The components of the Communication Infrastructure must also be resilient against component failure. For the Communication Infrastructure, it means that the following components must be resilient:

                  —

                  backbone network,

                  —

                  routing devices,

                  —

                  points of Presence,

                  —

                  local loop connections (including physically redundant cabling),

                  —

                  security devices (crypto devices, firewalls, etc.),

                  —

                  all generic services (DNS, NTP, etc.),

                  —

                  LNI/BLNI.

            The failover mechanisms for all network equipment should occur without any manual intervention.
      5.   Monitoring
      To facilitate the monitoring, the Communication Infrastructure’s monitoring tools must be able to be integrated with those of the monitoring facilities of the organisation responsible for the operational management for the Central SIS II.
      6.   Generic services
      Apart from the dedicated network and security services, the Communication Infrastructure must also offer generic services.
      Dedicated services must be implemented within both central units, for redundancy purposes.
      The following optional generic services must be present in the Communication Infrastructure:

                  Service

                  Additional Information

                  DNS

                  Currently the failover procedure for switching from the CU to the BCU in case of network failure is based on changing the IP address within the generic DNS server.

                  E-mail relay

                  Using a generic e-mail relay might be useful for standardising the e-mail set-up for the different Member States and, contrary to a dedicated server, does not use up any network resources from the CU/BCU.
                  E-mails using the generic e-mail relay must still comply with their security template.

                  NTP

                  This service may be used to synchronize the clocks of network equipment.

            7.   Availability
      The CS-SIS and the LNI and BLNI must be able to deliver an availability of 99,99 % over a 28-day rolling period excluding the network availability.
      The availability of the Communication Infrastructure must be 99,99 %.
      8.   Security services
      8.1.   Network encryption
      The Central SIS II does not allow data with high or very high protection requirements to be transferred outside the LAN without encryption. It should be ensured that the network provider will not have access to the SIS II operational data as well as to the related Sirene exchange by any means.
      To maintain a high level of security, the Communication Infrastructure must allow the possibility to manage the certificates/keys. Remote administration and remote monitoring of the encryption boxes must be possible. Encryption algorithms at least must comply with the following requirements:

                  —

                  symmetric encryption algorithms:

                              —

                              3DES (128 bits) or better,

                              —

                              key generation must depend on random value that does not allow for key space reduction while under attack,

                              —

                              encryption keys or information that can be used for deriving the keys are always protected while in storage002E;

                  —

                  asymmetric encryption algorithms:

                              —

                              RSA (1 024 bit modulus) or better,

                              —

                              key generation must depend on random value that does not allow for key space reduction while under attack.

            The Encapsulated Security Payload (ESP, RFC2406) protocol shall be used. It shall be used in tunnel mode. The Payload and the original IP-header shall be encrypted.
      For exchange of session keys the Internet Key Exchange (IKE) protocol shall be used.
      IKE keys shall not be valid longer than one day.
      Session keys shall not be longer than one hour.
      8.2.   Other security features
      Besides protecting the SIS II access points, the Communication Infrastructure must also protect the optional generic services. These services should meet the same protection measures comparable to those in CS-SIS. All generic services must therefore, at a minimum, be protected by a firewall, antivirus and an intrusion detection system. Furthermore, the generic services devices and its protection measures should be under continuous security surveillance (logging and follow-up).
      In order to maintain a high level of security, the organisation responsible for the operational management for the Central SIS II must be aware of any security incidents that occur on the Communication Infrastructure. Therefore, the Communication Infrastructure must allow security incidents to be reported without any delay to the organisation responsible for the operational management for the Central SIS II. All security incidents must be provided on a regular basis, e.g. monthly reporting and ad-hoc basis.
      9.   Helpdesk and support structure
      The provider of the Communication Infrastructure must deliver a helpdesk that interacts with the organisation responsible for the operational management for the Central SIS II.
      10.   Interaction with other systems
      The Communication Infrastructure must ensure that information cannot go outside the assigned communication channels. For the technical implementation this implies that:

                  —

                  all unauthorised and/or uncontrolled access to other networks is strictly prohibited. This includes the interconnectivity to the Internet,

                  —

                  data leakage to other systems on the network may not occur; e.g. interconnection of different IP VPNs is not allowed.

            Apart from the aforementioned technical restrictions it causes, it also impacts the communications infrastructure’s helpdesk. The helpdesk may not release any information with regard to the Central SIS II to any party else than the one responsible for the operational management for the Central SIS II.


title: 2011/250/EU: Council Decision of 31 January 2011 on the signing, on behalf the European Union, of a Protocol to the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement establishing a partnership between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Uzbekistan, of the other part, amending the Agreement in order to extend the provisions of the Agreement to bilateral trade in textiles, taking account of the expiry of the bilateral textiles Agreement

text:
               27.4.2011

               EN

               Official Journal of the European Union

               L 106/1

         COUNCIL DECISION
   of 31 January 2011
   on the signing, on behalf the European Union, of a Protocol to the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement establishing a partnership between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Uzbekistan, of the other part, amending the Agreement in order to extend the provisions of the Agreement to bilateral trade in textiles, taking account of the expiry of the bilateral textiles Agreement
   (2011/250/EU)
   THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
   Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 207(4), in conjunction with Article 218(5) thereof,
   Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,
   Whereas:

               (1)

               On 9 June 2010 the Council authorised the Commission to enter into negotiations with the Republic of Uzbekistan to amend the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement establishing a partnership between the European Communities and their Member States, on the one part, and the Republic of Uzbekistan, of the other part (1) (hereinafter ‘the Agreement’), so as to ensure that the principles which apply to trade in other goods are also extended formally to trade in textile products. These negotiations have been successfully concluded and the Protocol amending the Agreement by deleting Article 16, and all references thereto, was initialled on 1 July 2010.

               (2)

               In the framework of the negotiations it was agreed between both parties to carry out a clean up exercise and to delete an obsolete technical provision that expired in 1998 and the corresponding Annex referring to it.

               (3)

               As a consequence of the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon on 1 December 2009, the European Union has replaced and succeeded the European Community.

               (4)

               The Protocol amending the Agreement should be signed on behalf of the Union, subject to its conclusion,

         HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:
   Article 1
   The signing of the Protocol to the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement establishing a partnership between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Uzbekistan, of the other part, amending the Agreement in order to extend the provisions of the Agreement to bilateral trade in textiles, taking account of the expiry of the bilateral textiles Agreement (hereinafter ‘the Protocol’), is hereby approved on behalf of the Union, subject to the conclusion of the said Protocol (2).
   Article 2
   The President of the Council is hereby authorised to designate the person(s) empowered to sign the Protocol on behalf of the Union, subject to its conclusion, and to make the following declaration:

      ‘As a consequence of the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon on 1 December 2009, the European Union has replaced and succeeded the European Community and from that date exercises all rights and assumes all obligations of the European Community. Therefore, references to “the European Community” or to “the Community” in the text of the Agreement are, where appropriate, to be read as “the European Union”.’

   Article 3
   This Decision shall enter into force on the day of its adoption.

      Done at Brussels, 31 January 2011.

            For the Council

            The President

         C. ASHTON

      (1)  OJ L 229, 31.8.1999, p. 3.

      (2)  The text of the Protocol will be published together with the decision on its conclusion.


Avis juridique important

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32000D0815

2000/815/EC: Council Decision of 14 December 2000 on the conclusion of an Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters concerning the provisional application of the Fourth Protocol laying down the conditions relating to fishing provided for in the Agreement on fisheries between the European Economic Community, on the one hand, and the Government of Denmark and the local Government of Greenland, on the other hand

Official Journal L 329 , 27/12/2000 P. 0046 - 0046

Council Decisionof 14 December 2000on the conclusion of an Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters concerning the provisional application of the Fourth Protocol laying down the conditions relating to fishing provided for in the Agreement on fisheries between the European Economic Community, on the one hand, and the Government of Denmark and the local Government of Greenland, on the other hand(2000/815/EC)THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 300(2) thereof,Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,Whereas:(1) Pursuant to the Agreement on fisheries between the European Economic Community, on the one hand, and the Government of Denmark and the local Government of Greenland, on the other hand(1) concerning fishing in the Greenland Exclusive Economic Zone waters, the Community and the Government of Denmark and the Home Rule Government of Greenland conducted negotiations on a new implementing Protocol intended to cover the years 2001 to 2006.(2) As a result of those negotiations, a new Protocol was initialled on 13 September 2000.(3) Under this new Protocol, Community fishermen will enjoy fishing opportunities in waters under the jurisdiction of Greenland from 1 January 2001 to 31 December 2006.(4) The Protocol in question is to be applied as of 1 January 2001 if fishing activities by Community vessels are not to be interrupted. To that end, the two Parties initialled an Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters providing for the provisional application of the initialled Protocol from the day after that on which the Protocol in force expired. That Agreement should be approved pending a final decision to be adopted in accordance with Article 37 of the Treaty.(5) In order to ensure the livelihood of Community fishermen, it is important to open these fisheries on 1 January 2001; given the urgency of the matter, it is imperative to grant an exception to the six-week period mentioned in paragraph 1(3) of the Protocol on the role of national Parliaments of the European Union, annexed to the Treaty of Amsterdam,HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:Article 1The Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters concerning the provisional application of the Fourth Protocol laying down the conditions relating to fishing provided for in the Agreement on fisheries between the European Community, on the one hand, and the Government of Denmark and the local Government of Greenland, on the other hand, is hereby approved on behalf of the Community.The texts of the Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters and the Protocol are attached hereto.Article 2The President of the Council is hereby authorised to designate the persons empowered to sign the Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters in order to bind the Community.Done at Brussels, 14 December 2000.For the CouncilThe PresidentJ. Glavany(1) OJ L 29, 1.2.1985, p. 9.


Avis juridique important

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32001D0352

2001/352/CFSP: Council Decision of 9 April 2001 concerning the conclusion of the Agreement between the European Union and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) on the activities of the European Union Monitoring Mission (EUMM) in the FRY

Official Journal L 125 , 05/05/2001 P. 0001 - 0001

Council Decisionof 9 April 2001concerning the conclusion of the Agreement between the European Union and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) on the activities of the European Union Monitoring Mission (EUMM) in the FRY(2001/352/CFSP)THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,Having regard to the Treaty on European Union and in particular Article 24 thereof,Having regard to the recommendation from the Presidency,Whereas:(1) On 22 December 2000, the Council adopted Joint Action 2000/811/CFSP on the European Union Monitoring Mission(1).(2) Article 6 of that Joint Action provides that the detailed rules governing the EUMM operations in the areas of its responsibilities are to be laid down in arrangements to be concluded in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 24 of the Treaty.(3) Following the Council Decision of 12 March 2001 authorising the Presidency to open negotiations, the Presidency negotiated an agreement with the FRY on the activities of the EUMM.(4) That agreement should be approved,HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:Article 1The Agreement between the European Union and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia on the activities of the European Union Monitoring Mission (EUMM) in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia is hereby approved on behalf of the European Union.The text of the Agreement is attached to this Decision.Article 2The President of the Council is hereby authorised to designate the person empowered to sign the Agreement in order to bind the European Union.Article 3This Decision shall be published in the Official Journal.It shall take effect on the day of its publication.Done at Luxembourg, 9 April 2001.For the CouncilThe PresidentA. Lindh(1) OJ L 328, 31.12.2000, p. 53.


title: 2009/817/EC: Council Decision of 27 October 2009 appointing one French member of the Committee of the Regions

text:
               7.11.2009

               EN

               Official Journal of the European Union

               L 291/26

      COUNCIL DECISION

   of 27 October 2009
   appointing one French member of the Committee of the Regions
   (2009/817/EC)
   THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
   Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 263 thereof,
   Having regard to the proposal of the French Government,
   Whereas:

               (1)

               On 24 January 2006, the Council adopted Decision 2006/116/EC appointing the members and alternate members of the Committee of the Regions for the period from 26 January 2006 to 25 January 2010 (1).

               (2)

               A member’s seat on the Committee of the Regions has become vacant following the end of the term of office of Mr Bernard SOULAGE,

         HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:
   Article 1
   The following is hereby reappointed to the Committee of the Regions as a member for the remainder of the current term of office, which runs until 25 January 2010:
   Mr Bernard SOULAGE, Vice-président du Conseil régional de Rhône-Alpes.
   Article 2
   This Decision shall take effect on the day of its adoption.

      Done at Luxembourg, 27 October 2009.

            For the Council

            The President

         C. BILDT

      (1)  OJ L 56, 25.2.2006, p. 75.


title: 2010/1/: ‘Omnibus’ Decision No 1/2010 of the EU-San Marino Cooperation Committee of 29 March 2010 establishing various implementing measures for the Agreement on Cooperation and Customs Union between the European Economic Community and the Republic of San Marino

text:
               23.6.2010

               EN

               Official Journal of the European Union

               L 156/13

         ‘OMNIBUS’DECISION No 1/2010 OF THE EU-SAN MARINO COOPERATION COMMITTEE
   of 29 March 2010
   establishing various implementing measures for the Agreement on Cooperation and Customs Union between the European Economic Community and the Republic of San Marino
   THE EU-SAN MARINO COOPERATION COMMITTEE,
   Having regard to the Agreement on Cooperation and Customs Union between the European Economic Community and the Republic of San Marino (1), and in particular Articles 7(2), 8(3), 13(2) and 23(3) thereof,
   Whereas:

               (1)

               The Agreement on Cooperation and Customs Union between the European Economic Community and the Republic of San Marino (‘the Agreement’) entered into force on 1 April 2002.

               (2)

               As a result of the entry into force of the Agreement, the Interim Agreement on Trade and Customs Union between the European Economic Community and the Republic of San Marino (2) ceased to apply.

               (3)

               The EU-San Marino Cooperation Committee (‘the Cooperation Committee’) is required by the Agreement to take a number of decisions for the proper implementation thereof.

               (4)

               Article 7(2) of the Agreement provides that the Cooperation Committee should determine in greater detail the provisions of the Union relating to the operation of the customs union. Given the existence of a Community Customs Code, and that, for the moment, customs clearance is carried out through customs offices of the Union, it is not necessary to establish a detailed list of the applicable provisions.

               (5)

               The Republic of San Marino is a party to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). The application of legislation of the Union in this area by the Republic of San Marino would aid the proper functioning of the customs union established by the Agreement.

               (6)

               In order to comply with Articles 6(4) and 7(1) of the Agreement, the Republic of San Marino is to take all necessary measures to apply in its territory legislation of the Union in the fields of food safety and veterinary and phytosanitary matters, to the extent necessary to ensure the proper functioning of the Agreement. Administrative cooperation should be established in order to assist the authorities of the Republic of San Marino in this regard.

               (7)

               Annex II to the Agreement sets out the list of the customs offices which may carry out customs clearance formalities in the name and on behalf of the Republic of San Marino. Since Italy and the Republic of San Marino have agreed to increase the number of offices with a view to promoting economic development by assisting commercial exchanges between the Republic of San Marino and third countries, this list should be updated.

               (8)

               The decisions of the Cooperation Committee concerning customs cooperation and adopted under the Interim Agreement remain valid. It is therefore appropriate for them to remain in force.

               (9)

               The Cooperation Committee is to decide, in accordance with Article 8(3)(b) of the Agreement, on the arrangements for making available to the Republic of San Marino the import duties collected for its account. It is necessary to align the percentage deducted for administration costs on the percentage provided for in Article 2(3) of the Council Decision 2000/597/EC, Euratom of 29 September 2000 on the system of the European Communities’ own resources (3),

         HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:
   Article 1
   The rules of procedure of the Cooperation Committee set out in Annex I are hereby adopted.
   Article 2
   1.   A Customs Cooperation Committee, which has the task, in particular, of ensuring the correct and uniform application of the Agreement’s customs provisions and operates under the authority of the Cooperation Committee, is hereby set up.
   2.   The Customs Cooperation Committee shall be composed of customs experts from the Union and from the Republic of San Marino. The Customs Cooperation Committee shall meet alternately under the chairmanship of a European Commission representative and a representative of the Republic of San Marino. The rules of procedure of the Cooperation Committee shall apply, mutatis mutandis, to the Customs Cooperation Committee.
   3.   The Customs Cooperation Committee shall report regularly on its work to the Cooperation Committee. The flow of information shall take place through the secretariat of the Cooperation Committee. The Customs Cooperation Committee shall refer to the Cooperation Committee any instances raising a question of principle on the interpretation of the Agreement.
   Article 3
   1.   The Republic of San Marino shall apply customs legislation of the Union as it applies in the Union, and in particular the Community Customs Code (4) and its implementing provisions. The Republic of San Marino shall apply legislation of the Union relating to international trade in endangered species of wild fauna and flora.
   2.   In order to apply particular customs regimes, and to apply the legislation relating to international trade in endangered species of wild fauna and flora, the customs territory of the Union and the territory of the Republic of San Marino shall be considered a single customs territory.
   Article 4
   The practical arrangements for applying legislation of the Union on food safety and veterinary and phytosanitary matters shall be agreed by the European Commission departments and the authorities of the Republic of San Marino.
   Article 5
   In cases where a provision of the Union which the Republic of San Marino is required to apply by virtue of Article 7(1) of the Agreement, in the areas of customs, common commercial policy, market surveillance, health, safety and protection of consumers, international trade in endangered species of wild fauna and flora, agriculture, or food safety or veterinary or phytosanitary matters, provides that a decision must be taken by the European Commission to resolve certain issues, such decision shall be taken by the authorities of the Republic of San Marino following agreement by the European Commission. Where such a provision of the Union provides that a decision must be taken or a communication must be made by a Member State, such decision shall be taken or such communication shall be made by the authorities of the Republic of San Marino. Those authorities shall take into account the opinions of the Union’s scientific committees and use as a basis for its decisions the case-law of the Court of Justice and the practices followed by the European Commission.
   Article 6
   1.   The list of customs offices of the Union authorised to carry out customs clearance of goods destined for the Republic of San Marino annexed to the Agreement shall be replaced by the list set out in Annex II to this Decision.
   2.   Customs clearance operations relating to exports may be carried out at all Italian customs offices, with the exception of formalities:

               (a)

               which are carried out in customs procedures with economic impact;

               (b)

               which concern the export of arms, works of art, precursors and dual-use products;

         which must be carried out at the offices and sub-offices listed in Annex II.
   Article 7
   The procedures for making available to the San Marino Exchequer import duties collected by the Union on behalf of the Republic of San Marino are laid down in Annex III.
   Article 8
   1.   Decision No 3/92 of the EEC-San Marino Cooperation Committee of 22 December 1992 on the arrangements for the provision of mutual assistance pursuant to Article 13 of the Agreement between the Community and San Marino (5) shall remain in force and shall constitute implementation of Article 23(8) of the Agreement.
   2.   Decision No 4/92 of the EEC-San Marino Cooperation Committee of 22 December 1992 concerning certain methods of administrative cooperation for implementation of the Interim Agreement and the procedure for forwarding goods to the Republic of San Marino (6), as amended by Decision No 1/2002 of the EC-San Marino Cooperation Committee (7), shall remain in force. It shall constitute implementations of Article 8(3)(a) and (c) and Article 23(8) of the Agreement and shall apply mutatis mutandis to the use of electronic-data-processing techniques in the transit procedure of the Union.
   Article 9
   This Decision shall enter into force on the day of its adoption.

      Done at Brussels, 29 March 2010.

            For the Cooperation Committee

            The Chairman

         Gianluca GRIPPA

      (1)  OJ L 84, 28.3.2002, p. 43.

      (2)  OJ L 359, 9.12.1992, p. 14.

      (3)  OJ L 253, 7.10.2000, p. 42.

      (4)  Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 establishing the Community Customs Code, which has been amended several times. Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 has been replaced by Regulation (EC) No 450/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down the Community Customs Code (Modernised Customs Code), in the manner provided for in Article 188 of Regulation (EC) No 450/2008.

      (5)  OJ L 42, 19.2.1993, p. 29.

      (6)  OJ L 42, 19.2.1993, p. 34.

      (7)  OJ L 99, 16.4.2002, p. 23.

      ANNEX I

         RULES OF PROCEDURE OF THE EU-SAN MARINO COOPERATION COMMITTEE

      Article 1
      The chairmanship of the Cooperation Committee shall be held alternately for a period of six months as follows:

                  (a)

                  from 1 January to 30 June by a representative of the European Commission;

                  (b)

                  from 1 July to 31 December by a representative of the Republic of San Marino.

            Article 2
      The Chairman of the Cooperation Committee shall determine, following the agreement of the two delegations, the date and place of meetings. These shall be held alternately in Brussels and in the Republic of San Marino.
      Article 3
      Before each meeting the Chairman shall be informed of the expected composition of each delegation.
      Article 4
      1.   The Chairman shall draw up a provisional agenda for each meeting. This shall be sent to the two delegations no later than 15 days before the start of the meeting.
      2.   The provisional agenda shall include items for which documentation has been sent to the two delegations no later than the date on which the provisional agenda is sent.
      3.   The Chairman may, with the agreement of both delegations, shorten the deadlines provided for in paragraphs 1 and 2 to take account of particular circumstances.
      4.   The agenda shall be adopted by the Cooperation Committee at the beginning of each meeting. The inclusion in the agenda of any item other than those in the provisional agenda shall be done with the agreement of the Union and the Republic of San Marino.
      Article 5
      1.   Unless otherwise decided, the meetings of the Cooperation Committee shall not be public.
      2.   Without prejudice to other applicable provisions, the deliberations of the Cooperation Committee shall be covered by the obligation of professional secrecy, except in so far as the Committee decides otherwise.
      Article 6
      The deliberations of the Cooperation Committee may take place by written procedure if the Union and the Republic of San Marino so agree.
      Article 7
      Acts adopted by the Cooperation Committee shall be signed by the Chairman.
      Article 8
      1.   Recommendations and decisions of the Cooperation Committee pursuant to Article 23 of the Agreement shall be entitled ‘Recommendation’ or ‘Decision’ followed by a serial number and a reference to their subject matter.
      2.   Recommendations and decisions of the Cooperation Committee shall be forwarded to the addressees referred to in Article 10.
      Article 9
      1.   A record of the conclusions adopted by the Cooperation Committee shall be established by mutual agreement.
      2.   Secretariat services shall be provided jointly by a representative of the European Commission and a representative of the Republic of San Marino.
      Article 10
      All communications from the Chairman that are provided for in these rules of procedure shall be forwarded to the European Commission and to the Republic of San Marino.
      Article 11
      1.   The Contracting Parties shall each defray the expenses they incur by reason of their participation in the meetings of the Cooperation Committee, both with regard to staff, travel and subsistence expenditure and to postal and telecommunications expenditure.
      2.   Expenses related to the practical organisation of meetings (premises, requisites, etc.) shall be borne either by the Union or by the Republic of San Marino depending on where the meeting is held.
      Article 12
      The official languages of the Cooperation Committee shall be the official languages of the Institutions of the European Union.
      Article 13
      Correspondence intended for the Cooperation Committee shall be addressed to its Chairman at the Secretariat of the Cooperation Committee, using the address of the European Commission.

      ANNEX II

         List of customs offices of the Union authorised to carry out the customs clearance of goods destined for the Republic of San Marino

                  —

                  ANCONA: Ufficio delle Dogane di Ancona; Sezione Operativa Territoriale di Falconara Aeroporto,

                  —

                  BOLOGNA: Ufficio delle Dogane di Bologna, Sezione Operativa Territoriale Aeroporto ‘G. Marconi’,

                  —

                  FORLÌ: Ufficio delle Dogane di Forlì-Cesena; Sezione Operativa Territoriale Aeroporto ‘Ridolfi’,

                  —

                  GENOVA: Ufficio delle Dogane di Genova; Sezione Operativa Territoriale Passo Nuovo; Sezione Operativa Territoriale Voltri; Sezione Operativa Territoriale Aeroporto,

                  —

                  GIOIA TAURO: Ufficio delle Dogane di Gioia Tauro,

                  —

                  LA SPEZIA: Ufficio delle Dogane di La Spezia,

                  —

                  LIVORNO: Ufficio delle Dogane di Livorno,

                  —

                  MILANO: Ufficio delle Dogane di Varese, Sezione Operativa Territoriale di Malpensa,

                  —

                  ORIO AL SERIO: Ufficio delle Dogane di Bergamo, Sezione Operativa Territoriale di Orio al Serio,

                  —

                  RAVENNA: Ufficio delle Dogane di Ravenna; Sezione Operativa Territoriale di San Vitale,

                  —

                  RIMINI: Ufficio delle Dogane di Rimini; Sezione Operativa Territoriale di Aeroporto ‘F. Fellini’,

                  —

                  ROMA: Ufficio delle Dogane di Roma II; Sezione Operativa Territoriale di Fiumicino,

                  —

                  TARANTO: Ufficio delle Dogane di Taranto,

                  —

                  TRIESTE: Ufficio delle Dogane di Trieste; Sezione Operativa Territoriale di Porto industriale; Sezione Operativa Territoriale di Punto Franco Vecchio; Sezione Operativa Territoriale di Punto Franco Nuovo,

                  —

                  VENEZIA: Ufficio delle Dogane di Venezia; Sezione Operativa Territoriale di Interporto; Sezione Operativa Territoriale di Portogruaro.

      ANNEX III

         Procedures for making available to the San Marino Exchequer import duties collected by the Union on behalf of the Republic of San Marino

      Article 1
      With regard to the establishment, monitoring and making available of import duties collected on goods destined for the Republic of San Marino, Article 3, Article 6(1), (3)(a) and (b) and the first subparagraph of paragraph 4 and Articles 10(1) and 17(2) of Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1150/2000 (1) shall apply mutatis mutandis. In particular, the following provisions shall apply:

                  (a)

                  Member States of the Union with customs offices listed in Annex II to this Decision shall maintain separate accounts for import duties collected on goods destined for the Republic of San Marino, identical to those provided for as regards the Union’s own resources in Article 6(1), (3)(a) and (b) of Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1150/2000.

                  (b)

                  The import duties relating to T2 SM or T2L SM documents shall be established by the customs offices referred to in Annex II to this Decision at the moment they are entered in the accounts and shall be entered in the accounts referred to in point (a).
                  Where the customs office of departure of the T2 SM transit procedure or of issue of the T2L SM document has not received the information required to prove that the goods have arrived in the Republic of San Marino to the customs office of departure or of issue, within three months, a correction shall be made to the initial entry in the accounts.
                  In this case, the import duties shall be established as Union’s own resources and entered in the accounts pursuant to Article 6(3)(a) of Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1150/2000 or, as appropriate, in the separate accounts pursuant to Article 6(3)(b) of that Regulation.
                  The procedure referred to above shall apply mutatis mutandis for compensating products or for goods in their unaltered state sold within the territory of the Republic of San Marino under inward processing arrangements or for goods under temporary importation arrangements for which a customs debt has arisen.

                  (c)

                  The Member States in question shall, pursuant to the first subparagraph of Article 6(4) of Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1150/2000, submit to the European Commission records of their accounts jointly with those relating to own resources. The records, established in the same way as for own resources, shall also indicate the total amount of import duties collected at each customs office.

                  (d)

                  The supporting documents shall be kept in accordance with the first and second subparagraphs of Article 3 of Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1150/2000. These documents and the documents relating to own resources shall be filed separately.

                  (e)

                  Corrections to established entitlements or to the accounts made after 31 December of the third year following the year of the initial establishment shall not be entered in the accounts, except on points notified later than this date either by the European Commission or by a Member State or by the Republic of San Marino.

                  (f)

                  Article 18 of Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1150/2000 shall apply. The inspection measures in question shall also apply to the documents referred to in point (b) of the first subparagraph of Article 18(2) proving that the goods have arrived in the Republic of San Marino. Officials authorised by the Republic of San Marino may participate in these inspection measures.

                  (g)

                  The Member States in question shall credit to the European Commission’s account provided for in Article 9 of Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1150/2000, within the time limits indicated in Article 10(1) of that Regulation and after deduction of collection costs, the entitlements entered in the accounts provided for in Article 6(3)(a) and (b) of that Regulation.
                  The percentage which the Union may deduct, as collection costs, from the import duties collected by the Union on behalf of the Republic of San Marino is set at 25 %.

                  (h)

                  Member States in question shall be released from the obligation to place at the disposal of the European Commission the amounts corresponding to the duties recorded for the Republic of San Marino only once the conditions laid down in Article 17(2) of Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1150/2000 have been fulfilled.

            Article 2
      The European Commission shall transfer the amounts credited to an account opened by the Republic of San Marino with thirty days of notification by the Member States that an amount has been credited. The Republic of San Marino shall inform the European Commission of the details of the account to be credited and shall bear any charges on this account.
      Article 3
      In the implementation of Article 1(a) and (b), the Appendix shall apply.

         (1)  Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1150/2000 of 22 May 2000 implementing Decision 2007/436/EC, Euratom on the system of the European Communities own resources (OJ L 130, 31.5.2000, p. 1).

         Appendix

            Administrative procedure applicable in the implementation of points (a) and (b) of Article 1

         1.   Completion of formalities at authorised customs offices to release goods for free circulation
         When goods bound for the Republic of San Marino are released for free circulation, they move under cover of a T2 SM transit procedure or a T2L SM document as appropriate. The import duties shall be entered in the accounts within the time-limits laid down by the relevant legislation of the Union.
         For control purposes, duties entered in the accounts shall also be recorded in a register, specifically kept for this purpose by the customs office concerned, containing details of all imports bound for the Republic of San Marino, including reference to the goods imported, the date of acceptance of the import declaration, the items of charge, the amount of duty involved and the movement reference number or document issued (T2 SM or T2L SM).
         The authorities of the Republic of San Marino, using the ‘arrival advice’ message, shall notify the office of departure of the arrival of the goods on the day they are presented at the office of destination and shall forward the ‘control results’ message to the office of departure at the latest on the third day following the day the goods are presented at the office of destination.
         Where a T2 SM document is used in the transit fallback procedure, or a T2L SM document, the customs office shall indicate on these documents the deadline of three months from the date of issue of the said documents for the return of copy No 5 of document T2 SM or the copy of document T2L SM, duly stamped by the authorities of the Republic of San Marino, to the customs office of issue.
         2.   Completion of accounting formalities at authorised customs offices
         The import duties shall be entered in the ‘San Marino’ accounts (procedure analogous to that detailed in Article 6(3)(a) of Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1150/2000) in accordance with the provisions of that Article.
         However, the authorities of the Member States with customs offices listed in Annex II may decide not to make an entry in the ‘San Marino’ accounts if the established duties for which security has been provided have been challenged and might upon settlement of the disputes which have arisen be subject to change. In this case, pending the outcome of the ensuing national administrative and/or legal procedures by the competent authorities, the amount of import duties shall be recorded in separate ‘San Marino’ accounts (procedure analogous to that detailed in Article 6(3)(b) of Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1150/2000).
         For the purposes of this paragraph, the following shall be considered to be ‘competent authorities’:

                     —

                     for any question relating to implementation of the laws, regulations or administrative provisions applicable to customs matters, the administrative or judicial authorities of the Member State which carried out the customs clearance or, where appropriate, those of the Union,

                     —

                     for any question relating to procedural provisions (notifications, deadlines, etc.), the administrative or judicial authorities of the Member State which carried out the customs clearance,

                     —

                     for any question relating to implementation of an implementing measure concerning the forced recovery of debts in the territory of the Republic of San Marino, the judicial authorities of the Republic of San Marino.

               3.   Discharge of the transit procedure and return of supporting documents
         The transit operation may be discharged when the customs office of departure of the goods has received the appropriate ‘arrival advice’ and ‘control results’ messages within the time-limits foreseen in the customs legislation of the Union.
         When the fallback procedure for transit is used or a T2L SM document was issued, copy No 5 of document T2 SM or the copy of document T2L SM, duly stamped by the authorities of the Republic of San Marino, are returned within the three-month time-limit referred to in the fourth subparagraph of paragraph 1 to the customs office of issue.
         Where the messages referred to in the first subparagraph are not presented or where copy No 5 of document T2 SM or the copy of document T2L SM is not returned to the office of departure within the designated time limit, an entry shall be made in the register referred to above and a correction made to the initial entry in the accounts. In this case, the import duties shall be established as Union’s own resources and entered in the accounts detailed in Article 6(3)(a) of Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1150/2000 or, where appropriate, in the separate accounts referred to in Article 6(3)(b) of that Regulation.
         This entry shall be without prejudice to any corrections which might prove necessary in the light of investigation conducted in the context of the transit arrangements of the Union or as a result of action undertaken in the context of mutual assistance as laid down in Decision No 3/92 of the EEC-San Marino Cooperation Committee.
         4.   Application of the specific procedure in the context of inward processing and temporary importation arrangements
         The procedure referred to above shall apply mutatis mutandis for compensating products or for goods in their unaltered state sold within the territory of the Republic of San Marino under inward processing arrangements or for goods under temporary importation arrangements for which a customs debt has arisen.


Avis juridique important

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41997D0205(01)

Decision by common accord of the representatives of the Governments of the Member States determining the seat of the Community Plant Variety Office

Official Journal C 036 , 05/02/1996 P. 0001 - 0001

Decision by common accord of the representatives of the Governments of the Member States determining the seat of the Community Plant Variety Office (97/C 36/01)THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE GOVERNMENTS OF THE MEMBER STATES,Having regard to Article 216 of the Treaty etablishing the European Community,Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 2100/94 of 27 July 1994 on Community plant variety rights (1),Whereas it is necessary to determine the seat of the Community Plant Variety Office,HAVE DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:Article 1 The Community Plant Variety Office shall have its seat in Angers.Article 2 This Decision, which shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Communities, shall enter into force today.Done at Brussels, 6 December 1996.For the CouncilThe PresidentD. SPRING(1) OJ No L 227, 1. 9. 1994, p. 1.


Avis juridique important

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31997D0360

97/360/EC: Council Decision of 24 March 1997 concerning the elimination of duties on certain spirituous beverages

Official Journal L 155 , 12/06/1997 P. 0060 - 0060

COUNCIL DECISION of 24 March 1997 (1) concerning the elimination of duties on certain spirituous beverages (97/360/EC)THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 113, in conjunction with Article 228 (2) first sentence, thereof,Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,Whereas the elimination of tariffs by the United States and the European Community is considered to be of overall benefit;Whereas the United States and the European Community have prepared an Agreement in the form of a Memorandum of Understanding on spirituous beverages; whereas the Agreement includes modifications to an EC-Spirits-Schedule CXL which should be submitted to the World Trade Organization;Whereas the Agreement in the form of a Memorandum of Understanding between the United States and the European Community on spirituous beverages should be approved on behalf of the Community,HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:Article 1The Agreement in the form of a Memorandum of Understanding between the European Community and the United States of America on spirituous beverages is hereby approved on behalf of the Community.The text of the Agreement is attached to this Decision.Article 2The Commission is hereby authorized to submit to the World Trade Organization the modifications to the Community schedule as set out in the EC-Spirits-Schedule CXL contained in the Agreement attached hereto.Article 3The President of the Council is hereby authorized to designate the person empowered to sign the Agreement in the form of a Memorandum of Understanding in order to bind the Community.Article 4This Decision shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Communities.Done at Brussels, 24 March 1997.For the CouncilThe PresidentH. VAN MIERLO(1) The consolidated text of this Decision incorporates corrections approved by the Council on 14 May 1997.