Considerations on COM(2017)263 - Simplified procedure for the drawing up of Union positions in the Council of Members of the International Olive Council

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dossier COM(2017)263 - Simplified procedure for the drawing up of Union positions in the Council of Members of the International Olive Council.
document COM(2017)263 EN
date June  1, 2017
 
(1) On 19 November 2013, the Council authorised the Commission to open negotiations on behalf of the Union in order to conclude a new international agreement on olive oil and table olives 4 .

(2) The text of the new International Agreement on Olive Oil and Table Olives was adopted on 9 October 2015 by the representatives of 24 Member States of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and two intergovernmental organisations during the United Nations Conference for the Negotiation of a Successor Agreement to the International Agreement on Olive Oil and Table Olives, 2005.

(3) In accordance with Council Decision (EU) 2016/1892 of 10 October 2016 5 , the International Agreement on Olive Oil and Table Olives, 2015 (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Agreement’) was signed on behalf of the Union on 28 November 2016 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, subject to its conclusion at a later date.

(4) The Agreement entered into force provisionally on 1 January 2017 in accordance with Article 31(2) thereof, and was approved by Council Decision (EU) [2017/..] 6 .

(5) In order to facilitate the adoption of decisions by the Council of Members of the International Olive Council, called the ‘Council of Members’, and ensure the effective functioning of the Agreement, it is necessary to draw up the general principles governing the Union’s position as well as a simplified internal procedure for the drawing up of the Union’s position within the Council of Members as regards certain decisions having legal effects that do not modify the institutional framework of the Agreement. 

(6) In order to have the expertise of the Member States, and in order to ensure maximum coherence between the decisions of the Council of Members and the Union rules that will be adopted by means of a delegated act following the decisions of the Council of Members, the Commission, under the simplified procedure, should be assisted by representatives of the Member States, who should be informed from the moment it prepares the positions it plans to take in the name of the Union. As regards the standards applicable to the international trade in olive oil or table olives and the international quality guarantee label ensuring compliance with the international standards of the International Olive Council, provision should be made that if a number of Member States equivalent to the blocking minority laid down by the second paragraph of Article 238(3)(a) of the Treaty oppose the position drawn up by the Commission, the simplified procedure no longer applies. In this case, the Commission should present a proposal for a Council decision, in accordance with Article 218(9) of the Treaty.