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 proposal from the European Commission,
Whereas:
(1) On 23 April 2007 the Council authorised the Commission to negotiate an Association Agreement with Central America, on behalf of the European Union and its Member States. The negotiating directives were amended on 10 March 2010 to include Panama in the negotiation process.
(2) Those negotiations were concluded at the occasion of the EU-Latin American and Caribbean Summit in Madrid in May 2010 and the Agreement establishing an Association between the European Union and its Member States on the one hand, and Central America on the other (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Agreement’) was initialled on 22 March 2011.
(3) Article 353(4) of the Agreement provides for the provisional application of Part IV of the Agreement concerning trade matters.
(4) The Agreement should be signed on behalf of the European Union and Part IV thereof applied on a provisional basis, pending the completion of the procedures for the conclusion of the Agreement.
(5) The Agreement does not affect the rights of investors of the Member States to benefit from any more favourable treatment provided for in any agreement related to investment to which a Member State and a signatory Central American Republic are Parties.
(6) The provisional application of Part IV of the Agreement does not prejudge the allocation of competences between the European Union and its Member States in accordance with the Treaties.
(7) Pursuant to Article 218(7) of the Treaty, it is appropriate for the Council to authorise the Commission to approve modifications to the list of geographical indications recommended by the Subcommittee on Intellectual Property to the Association Committee for approval by the Association Council pursuant to Articles 247 and 274.2(a) of the Agreement.
(8) It is appropriate to set out the relevant procedures for the protection of geographical indications pursuant to the Agreement.
(9) Pursuant to Article 356 of the Agreement, it is appropriate to clarify that the Agreement shall not be construed as conferring rights or imposing obligations which can be directly invoked before Union or Member State courts and tribunals.
(10) The provisions of the Agreement that fall within the scope of Part Three, Title V of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union bind the United Kingdom and Ireland as separate Contracting Parties, and not as part of the European Union, unless the European Union together with the United Kingdom and/or Ireland have jointly notified the Central America Party that the United Kingdom or Ireland is bound as part of the European Union in accordance with the Protocol (No 21) on the position of the United Kingdom and Ireland in respect of the area of Freedom, Security and Justice annexed to the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.
(11) If the United Kingdom and/or Ireland ceases to be bound as part of the European Union in accordance with Article 4a of that Protocol (No 21), the European Union together with the United Kingdom and/or Ireland shall immediately inform the Central America Party of any change in their position. In that case, they shall remain bound by the provisions of the Agreement in their own right. The same applies to Denmark in accordance with the Protocol (No 22) on the position of Denmark annexed to those Treaties,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION: