Explanatory Memorandum to COM(2018)784 - Conclusion of the partnership agreement with Singapore - Main contents
Please note
This page contains a limited version of this dossier in the EU Monitor.
| dossier | COM(2018)784 - Conclusion of the partnership agreement with Singapore. |
|---|---|
| source | COM(2018)784  |
| date | 04-12-2018 |
1. CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL
On 25 November 2004, the Council authorised the Commission to negotiate a Partnership and Cooperation Agreement ('PCA' or the Agreement) with six ASEAN countries, including Singapore. Negotiations with Singapore were launched in October 2005 and finalised in May 2013. The two sides initialled the PCA in Singapore on 14 October 2013.
Negotiations were carried out in consultation with the Working Party on Asia and the Pacific (COASI), as a consultative committee. The European Parliament has been kept informed throughout the negotiations.
Following the adoption of the Council Decision on the signing of the Agreement on 16/07/2018, the Agreement was signed on 19/10/2018 in Brussels.
The present proposal concerns the legal instrument concluding the Agreement.
2. LEGAL ELEMENTS OF THE PROPOSAL
2.1.The aim and content of the Agreement
The PCA with Singapore is the fifth agreement with an ASEAN country, following the agreements with Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Malaysia. It will supersede the current legal framework of the 1980 Cooperation Agreement between the European Economic Community and member countries of the Association of South-East Asian Nations.
This Agreement with Singapore constitutes a stepping stone towards enhanced political and economic involvement of the EU in South-East Asia. It will provide the basis for more effective bilateral engagement by the EU and its Member States with Singapore by strengthening political dialogue and enhancing cooperation in a broad range of areas.
The PCA covers the EU’s standard political clauses on human rights, International Criminal Court (ICC), Weapons of Mass Destructions (WMD), Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) and counter-terrorism. It also encompasses cooperation in areas such as trade and investment issues, industrial policy, health, environment, climate change, energy, tax, education and culture, labour, employment and social affairs, science and technology, and transport. The Agreement further addresses cooperation in the area of justice, freedom and security, i.a legal cooperation, money laundering and terrorist financing, organised crime and corruption.
The PCA contains a Side Letter, which forms an integral part of the Agreement. The Side Letter confirms the parties' understanding that, at the time of signature of the Agreement, they are not aware, based on objectively available information, of any of each other’s domestic laws, or their application, which could lead to the invocation of the non-execution mechanism.
The PCA is complemented by a Free Trade Agreement and an Investment Protection Agreement, which constitute specific agreements giving effect to trade and investment provisions of the PCA, and which are an integral part of the overall bilateral relations and the common institutional framework as provided for in Article 9(2) of the PCA.
The Agreement provides for the possibility of suspending the application of the PCA or of any specific agreement referred to under Article 9(2) and Article 43(3) of the Agreement in case of a violation of essential elements of the Agreement, i.e. the human rights clause and the non-proliferation clause.
The Agreement establishes a Joint Committee with the task of ensuring the proper functioning and implementation of the Agreement.
2.2.Substantive legal basis
According to the case-law, if examination of an EU measure reveals that it pursues two purposes or that it comprises two components and if one of these is identifiable as the main or predominant purpose or component, whereas the other is merely incidental, the measure must be founded on a single legal basis, namely that required by the main or predominant purpose or component. Exceptionally, if it is established, on the other hand, that the measure simultaneously pursues a number of objectives, or has several components, which are inextricably linked without one being incidental to the other, so that various provisions of the Treaty are applicable, the measure must be founded on the various corresponding legal bases (see, to that effect, judgments of 10 January 2006, Commission v Parliament and Council, C178/03, EU:C:2006:4, paragraphs 42 and 43; of 11 June 2014, Commission v Council, C377/12, EU:C:2014:1903, paragraph 34; and of 14 June 2016, Parliament v Council, C263/14, EU:C:2016:435, paragraph 44).
In this particular case, the predominant purpose or component is cooperation with a third country. That is why the proposed Decision should be based on Article 212 TFEU.
2.3.Procedural legal basis
Article 218(6) TFEU provides for the adoption of a decision to authorise the conclusion of an agreement. Article 218(8) TFEU provides that the Council is to act by qualified majority except for the circumstances listed in the second subparagraph of Article 218(8) TFEU where the Council is to act unanimously. The voting rule for this particular case is therefore qualified majority.
2.4.Conclusion
The legal basis of the proposed decision should therefore be Article 212 TFEU, in conjunction with Articles 218(6)(a) TFEU. No additional provisions are required as legal basis 1 .
3. OTHER ELEMENTS: NECESSITY OF PROPOSED DECISION
Article 216 TFEU provides that the Union may conclude an agreement with one or more other countries where the Treaties so provide or where this is necessary in order to achieve, in the framework of the Union’s policies, one of the objectives referred to in the Treaties, is provided for in a legally binding Union act or is likely to affect common rules or alter their scope.
The Treaties provide for the conclusion of agreements such as the PCA, namely in Article 212 TFEU. Moreover, the conclusion of the PCA is necessary for the purpose of achieving, in the framework of the Union’s policies, objectives referred to in the Treaties, including in the areas of human rights, the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, counter-terrorism, combating organised crime, combating money laundering and terrorist financing, trade, migration, environment, energy, climate change, transport, employment and social affairs, health etc.