Article 1The position to be taken on the Union’s behalf in...
Article 2This Decision shall enter into force on the date of...
ATTACHMENTS DRAFT ANNEX ANNEX I TO PROTOCOL No. 1 ANNEX II TO PROTOCOL No. 1 ANNEX II‐A ANNEX III TO PROTOCOL No. 1 ANNEX IV TO PROTOCOL No. 1 ANNEX V‐A TO PROTOCOL No. 1 ANNEX V‐B TO PROTOCOL No. 1 ANNEX VI TO PROTOCOL No. 1 ANNEX VII TO PROTOCOL No. 1 ANNEX VIII TO PROTOCOL No. 1 JOINT DECLARATION JOINT DECLARATION

Council Decision (EU) 2019/2208

of 9 December 2019

on the position to be taken on behalf of the European Union within the EPA Committee established under the stepping stone Economic Partnership Agreement between Ghana, of the one part, and the European Community and its Member States, of the other part, as regards the adoption of Protocol No. 1 concerning the definition of the concept of ‘originating products’ and methods of administrative cooperation

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 207(3) and (4), in conjunction with Article 218(9) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,

Whereas:

(1)

The Stepping Stone Economic Partnership Agreement between Ghana, of the one part, and the European Community and its Member States, of the other part (‘the Agreement’) was signed on behalf of the Union on 28 July 2016 pursuant to Council Decision (EU) 2016/18501 and has been applied on a provisional basis since 15 December 2016.

(2)

Pursuant to Article 14 of the Agreement, the Parties are to establish a common and reciprocal regime governing rules of origin. This new regime is to be annexed to the Agreement by decision of the EPA Committee.

(3)

The EPA Committee, at its annual meeting in 2019, is to adopt a decision as regards Protocol No. 1 to the Agreement concerning the definition of the concept of ‘originating products’ and the methods of administrative cooperation.

(4)

Protocol No. 1 takes into account the most recent developments to provide more flexible and simpler rules of origin aiming at facilitating trade for economic operators and optimising the utilisation rate of the preferential treatment provided for in the Agreement.

(5)

It is appropriate to establish the position to be taken on behalf of the Union at the next meeting of the EPA Committee, as that decision will be binding on the Union.

(6)

The position of the Union within the EPA Committee should therefore be based on the attached draft Decision,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION: