THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 48, in conjunction with Article 218(9) thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,
Whereas:
(1) The Agreement between the European Community and its Member States, of the one part, and the Swiss Confederation, of the other, on the free movement of persons(1) (‘the Agreement’) was signed on 21 June 1999 and entered into force on 1 June 2002.
(2) Article 18 of the Agreement provides that the Joint Committee established under Article 14 of the Agreement (‘the Joint Committee’) may, by decision, adopt amendments to Annex II to the Agreement on the coordination of social security schemes.
(3) In order to maintain the consistent application of the legal acts of the Union and to avoid administrative and possible legal difficulties, Annex II to the Agreement needs to be amended to include new legal acts of the Union to which the Agreement does not currently refer.
(4) It is appropriate to establish the position to be taken on behalf of the Union within the Joint Committee as regards the amendment of Annex II to the Agreement.
(5) The position of the Union within the Joint Committee should therefore be based on the attached draft Decision,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION: