Explanatory Memorandum to COM(2010)706 - Proposition de DÉCISION DU CONSEIL relative à la signature au nom de l'Union Européenne, et à l'application provisoire de l’accord international sur le cacao de 2010

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dossier COM(2010)706 - Proposition de DÉCISION DU CONSEIL relative à la signature au nom de l'Union Européenne, et à l'application provisoire de ...
source COM(2010)706 EN
date 01-12-2010
On 25 June 2010 United Nations Cocoa Conference 2010 formally took note of the completion of the negotiations following a consensus reached by the delegations on the negotiated text of the new 2010 International Cocoa Agreement, which will replace the International Cocoa Agreement 2001, as extended.

In the talks on the Agreement the Commission negotiated on the basis of the mandate and negotiating directives proposed to the Council and adopted in September 2008 (Doc. 12672/08).

In view of the outcome of the talks and the substance of the new instrument, which reflects the position it put forward, the Commission considers the International Cocoa Agreement 2010 should be signed and the instrument of provisional application deposited with the Treaty Section of the United Nations Office of Legal Affairs in New York.

From a legal viewpoint, it should be noted that the Council Working Party on Commodities (PROBA) has already recognised that the main objective of the new International Cocoa Agreement 2010 remains the promotion of international cooperation on trade in cocoa, which falls within the exclusive competence of the European Union. Accordingly, the new International Cocoa Agreement 2010 should be signed and provisionally applied by the European Union under Article 207 of the TFEU.

The period for signing and depositing the instruments of acceptance, conclusion and ratification runs from 1 October 2010 until 30 September 2012, on which date the new International Cocoa Agreement 2010 is scheduled to enter into force definitively. The Council is therefore requested to adopt this decision as speedily as possible in view of the procedure requiring it to seek the consent of the European Parliament, too, so that the instrument of conclusion can also be deposited.