THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Articles 91 and 100(2) and the first subparagraph of Article 207(4) in conjunction with Article 218(9) thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,
Whereas:
(1)
On 23 April 2007 the Council authorised the Commission to negotiate a free trade agreement with the Republic of Korea on behalf of the European Union and its Member States.
(2)
Those negotiations have been concluded and the Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Korea, of the other part (the Agreement) was signed on 6 October 2010.
(3)
Pursuant to Article 15.10.5 of the Agreement, the Agreement has been provisionally applied since 1 July 2011 pending the completion of the procedures for its conclusion.
(4)
Article 15.1 of the Agreement establishes a Trade Committee, which shall, inter alia, ensure that the Agreement operates properly.
(5)
Article 15.1.4(f) of the Agreement provides that the Trade Committee may adopt its own rules of procedure.
(6)
Article 14.18 of the Agreement provides that the Trade Committee shall, no later than 6 months after the entry into force of the Agreement or its provisional application, establish a list of 15 individuals to serve as arbitrators.
(7)
The Union should determine the position to be taken as regards the adoption of the rules of procedure of the Trade Committee and the establishment of the list of arbitrators,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION: