Explanatory Memorandum to COM(2014)582 - Signing and provisional application of a Protocol to the association agreement with Morocco to take account of the accession of Croatia to the EU

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dossier COM(2014)582 - Signing and provisional application of a Protocol to the association agreement with Morocco to take account of the accession ...
source COM(2014)582 EN
date 22-09-2014
The Euro-Mediterranean Agreement establishing an Association between the European Communities and its Member States, of the one part, and the Kingdom of Morocco, of the other part ('the Agreement'), was signed in Brussels on 26 February 1996 and entered into force on 1 March 2000;

The attached proposal constitutes the legal instrument for the signature and provisional application of a Protocol to the Agreement ('the Protocol') to take account of Croatia's accession to the European Union.

According to its Act of Accession, Croatia shall accede to the international agreements signed or concluded by the EU and its Member States by means of a protocol to those agreements.

On 14 September 2012, the Council authorised the Commission to open negotiations with the third countries concerned with a view to concluding the relevant protocols. The negotiations with Morocco were successfully concluded by the initialling of the Protocol.

The proposed Protocol incorporates Croatia as a contracting party to the Agreement and commits the EU to providing for the authentic version of the Agreement in the new official language of the EU.

The Commission considers the outcome of the negotiations to be satisfactory and requests the Council to adopt the attached decision authorising the signature and provisional application of the Protocol.