THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 31 thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,
Whereas:
(1)
In order to ensure a sufficient and uninterrupted supply of certain agricultural and industrial products which are not produced in the Union and thereby avoid any disturbances in the market for those products, Common Customs Tariff (CCT) duties of the type referred to in Article 56(2)(c) of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (‘CCT duties’) on those products have been suspended by Council Regulation (EU) No 1387/2013. Those products can be imported into the Union at reduced or zero duty rates.
(2)
The Union production of certain products that are not listed in the Annex to Regulation (EU) No 1387/2013 is inadequate or non-existent. It is therefore in the interest of the Union to grant a total suspension of the CCT duties on those products.
(3)
With a view to promoting integrated battery production in the Union in accordance with the communication from the Commission of 17 May 2018 entitled ‘Europe on the Move – Sustainable Mobility for Europe: safe, connected, and clean’, a partial suspension of the CCT duties should be granted in respect of certain products that are not listed in the Annex to Regulation (EU) No 1387/2013. In addition, only a partial suspension of the CCT duties should be granted in respect of certain products that are currently subject to complete suspensions. The date for the mandatory review of those suspensions should be 31 December 2020 in order for that review to have regard to the evolution of the battery sector in the Union.
(4)
In respect of the products on the candidate list referred to in Article 59 of Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council, only a partial suspension of the CCT duties should be granted. The date for the mandatory review of those suspensions should be 31 December 2021, in order to allow economic operators to replace such products with alternatives.
(5)
It is necessary to amend the product description, classification and end-use requirement for certain CCT duty suspensions listed in the Annex to Regulation (EU) No 1387/2013 in order to take into account technical product developments and economic trends in the market.
(6)
It is no longer in the interest of the Union to maintain suspensions of CCT duties for certain products listed in the Annex to Regulation (EU) No 1387/2013. The suspensions for those products should therefore be withdrawn.
(7)
Regulation (EU) No 1387/2013 should therefore be amended accordingly.
(8)
In order to avoid any interruption of the application of the autonomous suspension scheme and to comply with the guidelines in the communication from the Commission of 13 December 2011 concerning autonomous tariff suspensions and quotas, the changes provided for in this Regulation regarding the suspensions for the products concerned should apply from 1 July 2020. This Regulation should therefore enter into force as a matter of urgency,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: