Explanatory Memorandum to JOIN(2018)19 - EU position in the Association Council EU-Morocco with regard to a recommendation on the extension of the EU-Morocco Action Plan implementing the advanced status (2013-2017)

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dossier JOIN(2018)19 - EU position in the Association Council EU-Morocco with regard to a recommendation on the extension of the EU-Morocco Action ...
source JOIN(2018)19 EN
date 22-06-2018


1. Subject matter of the proposal

This proposal concerns the decision establishing the position to be adopted on behalf of the Union in the Association Council set up by the Euro-Mediterranean Agreement establishing an association between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the Kingdom of Morocco, of the other part (‘the Agreement’ or ‘the EuroMediterranean Agreement’), with regard to the envisaged adoption of a decision to extend by one year the EU-Morocco Action Plan implementing the advanced status (20132017).

2. Context of the proposal

2.1.The Euro-Mediterranean Agreement

The purpose of the Euro-Mediterranean Agreement is to:

·provide an appropriate framework for political dialogue between the Parties, allowing the development of close relations in all areas they consider relevant to such dialogue;

·establish the conditions for the gradual liberalisation of trade in goods, services and capital;

·encourage integration of the Maghreb countries by promoting trade and cooperation between Morocco and other countries of the region;

·promote trade and the expansion of harmonious economic and social relations between the Parties, notably through dialogue and cooperation, so as to foster the development and prosperity of Morocco and its people;

·promote economic, social, cultural and financial cooperation.

The Agreement entered into force on 1 March 2000.

2.2. The Association Council

The Association Council established by the Euro-Mediterranean Agreement consists, on the one hand, of the members of the Council of the European Union and members of the European Commission and, on the other hand, of members of the Government of the Kingdom of Morocco. In order to achieve the aims set out in the Agreement, the Association Council has the power to take decisions and may also issue recommendations where necessary. It draws up its decisions and recommendations by agreement between the Parties.

2.3.Act envisaged by the Association Council

The Association Council must adopt, by means of an exchange of letters, a recommendation on the extension of the EU-Morocco Action Plan implementing the advanced status (20132017) (the ‘act envisaged’).

The purpose of the act envisaged is to extend by one year the validity of the EUMorocco Action Plan implementing the advanced status (2013-2017). This extension will ensure continuity in the implementation of Morocco’s advanced status.

3. Position to be adopted on behalf of the Union

The position to be adopted by the European Union in the Association Council established by the Euro-Mediterranean Agreement with regard to the adoption of a recommendation to extend by one year the EU-Morocco Action Plan implementing the advanced status (20132017) is based on the text of the Action Plan annexed to this Decision.

The two Parties have on a number of occasions confirmed the richness and vitality of the relations between the European Union and Morocco and their full commitment to the continued development of these relations in all areas of mutual interest.

In the current political context, the extension of the 2013-2017 Action Plan will constitute the basis of EU-Morocco relations for the current year and will enable negotiations to begin to establish the direction of and the new priorities for the EU-Morocco partnership in the years ahead.

The extension of the Action Plan is therefore in the interest of the European Union.

4. Legal basis

4.1.Procedural legal basis

4.1.1.Principles

Article 218(9) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) makes provision for decisions establishing ‘the positions to be adopted on the Union’s behalf in a body set up by an agreement, when that body is called upon to adopt acts having legal effects, with the exception of acts supplementing or amending the institutional framework of the agreement’.

The concept of ‘acts having legal effects’ includes acts that have legal effects by virtue of the rules of international law governing the body in question. It also includes instruments that do not have a binding effect under international law, but that are ‘capable of decisively influencing the content of the legislation adopted by the EU legislature’ 1 .

4.1.2.Application to the case at hand

The Association Council is a body created by an agreement, in this case the EuroMediterranean Agreement.

The act which the Association Council is called upon to adopt constitutes an act having legal effects.

The act envisaged has legal effects by virtue of the fact that the period of validity of the EUMorocco Action Plan implementing the advanced status (2013-2017) will be extended by one year, i.e. until the end of 2018.

The act envisaged does not supplement or amend the institutional framework of the Agreement.

Therefore, the procedural legal basis of the proposed decision is Article 218(9) TFEU.

4.2.Substantive legal basis

4.2.1.Principles

The substantive legal basis of a decision under Article 218(9) TFEU depends primarily on the aim and content of the act envisaged in respect of which a position is taken on the Union’s behalf. If the act envisaged pursues two aims or has two components and if one of those aims or components is identifiable as the main one, whereas the other is merely incidental, the decision under Article 218(9) TFEU must be founded on a single substantive legal basis, namely that required by the main or predominant aim or component.

4.2.2.Application to the case at hand

The aim and content of the act envisaged relate mainly to actions undertaken in the context of the association with a third country.

Therefore, the substantive legal basis of the proposed decision is Article 217, which is the legal basis of the Euro-Mediterranean Agreement establishing an association between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the Kingdom of Morocco, of the other part, which provides the legal framework for the various actions in the Action Plan.

4.3.Conclusion

The legal basis for the proposed decision is Article 217 in conjunction with Article 218(9) TFEU.

5. Publication of the act envisaged

Given that the act of the Association Council will amend the implementing period of the Action Plan, it should be published in the Official Journal of the European Union once it has been adopted.