Considerations on COM(2023)681 - EU position concerning a Decision of the EU - Albania Stabilisation and Association Council amending its Rules of Procedure

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dossier COM(2023)681 - EU position concerning a Decision of the EU - Albania Stabilisation and Association Council amending its Rules of Procedure.
document COM(2023)681 EN
date January 23, 2024
 
table>(1)The Stabilisation and Association Agreement between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Albania, of the other part (1) (the ‘Agreement’) was concluded by the Union by means of Council and Commission Decision 2009/332/EC, Euratom (2) and entered into force on 1 April 2009.
(2)Article 116 of the Agreement establishes a Stabilisation and Association Council (the ‘Stabilisation and Association Council’).

(3)Article 117(2) of the Agreement provides that the Stabilisation and Association Council is to establish its Rules of Procedure.

(4)Article 120(4) of the Agreement provides that the Stabilisation and Association Council may decide to set up other special committees or bodies that can assist it in carrying out its duties. It also provides that the Stabilisation and Association Council is to, in its Rules of Procedure, determine the composition and duties of such committees or bodies and how they are to function.

(5)The Albanian authorities have expressed an interest in setting up two Joint Consultative Committees, one with the European Economic and Social Committee and one with the Committee of the Regions.

(6)The aim of the envisaged Joint Consultative Committees would be to assist the Stabilisation and Association Council with a view to promoting dialogue and cooperation between social partners and other civil society organisations in the Union and in Albania and between local and regional authorities in the Union and in Albania, respectively.

(7)The Union opened accession negotiations with Albania on 19 July 2022. The intensification of the policy dialogue in the context of the Agreement will be beneficial to Albania’s progress on its EU path, in particular by strengthening the relations between authorities at local and regional level as well as with social partners and other civil society organisations in the Union and in Albania.

(8)The envisaged Joint Consultative Committees with the European Economic and Social Committee and with the Committee of the Regions, respectively, should therefore be set up by means of an amendment to the Rules of Procedure of the Stabilisation and Association Council, as provided for in Article 120(4) of the Agreement.

(9)It is therefore appropriate to establish the position to be adopted on the Union’s behalf within the Stabilisation and Association Council concerning the amendment of the Rules of Procedure of the Stabilisation and Association Council, as that amendment will have legal effects for the Union,