COUNCIL DECISION (EU) 2020/1420

of 15 October 2018

on the signing, on behalf of the European Union and its Member States, and provisional application of a Protocol to the Euro-Mediterranean Agreement establishing an association between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Tunisia, of the other part, to take account of the accession of the Republic of Croatia to the European Union

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 217, in conjunction with Article 218(5) thereof,

Having regard to the Act of Accession of the Republic of Croatia, and in particular Article 6(2) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,

Whereas:

(1) The Euro-Mediterranean Agreement establishing an association between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Tunisia, of the other part (1) (‘the Agreement’), was signed in Brussels on 17 July 1995. The Agreement entered into force on 1 March 1998.

(2) The Republic of Croatia became a Member State of the European Union on 1 July 2013.

(3) In accordance with Article 6(2) of the Act of Accession of the Republic of Croatia, the accession of the Republic of Croatia to the Agreement is to be agreed by means of a protocol to the Agreement (‘the Protocol’). Under a simplified procedure, a protocol is to be concluded between the Council, acting unanimously on behalf of the Member States, and the third country concerned.

(4) On 14 September 2012, the Council authorised the Commission to open negotiations with the third countries concerned in view of the accession of the Republic of Croatia to the Union. The negotiations with the Republic of Tunisia were concluded successfully on 11 May 2018.

(5) Therefore, the Protocol should be signed on behalf of the Union and its Member States and should be applied on a provisional basis, pending the completion of the procedures necessary for its conclusion,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

The signing, on behalf of the Union and its Member States, of the Protocol to the Euro-Mediterranean Agreement establishing an association between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Tunisia, of the other part, to take account of the accession of the Republic of Croatia to the European Union, is hereby authorised, subject to the conclusion of the said Protocol.

The text of the Protocol is attached to this Decision.

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 and its Member States.

Article 3

The Protocol shall be applied on a provisional basis as from 1 July 2013, pending the completion of the procedures necessary for its conclusion.

Article 4

This Decision shall enter into force on the date of its adoption.

Done at Luxembourg, 15 October 2018.

For the Council

The President

F. MOGHERINI

(1)  

OJ L 97, 30.3.1998, p. 2

.