Considerations on COM(2024)332 - EU position in the Joint Committee EU-Denmark/Faroe Islands establishing the general requirements on proofs of origin issued electronically according to Article 17(4) of Appendix A to Protocol 3 to that Agreement

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dossier COM(2024)332 - EU position in the Joint Committee EU-Denmark/Faroe Islands establishing the general requirements on proofs of origin issued ...
document COM(2024)332 EN
date November 21, 2024
 
a name="bookmark2">(1) The Agreement between the European Community, of the one part, and the Government of Denmark and the Home Government of the Faroe Islands, of the other part (the ‘Agreement’) was concluded by the Union by Council Decision 97/126/EC (1) and entered into force on 1 January 1997.


(2) Pursuant to Article 31 of the Agreement, the Joint Committee, established under that Article, (the ‘Joint Committee’) may take decisions in the cases provided for in the Agreement.


(3) At its next meeting, the Joint Committee is to take a decision establishing the general requirements for proofs of origin issued electronically.


(4) It is appropriate to establish the position to be adopted on the Union’s behalf within the Joint Committee as the decision of the Joint Committee will have legal effects.


(5) The Regional Convention on pan-Euro-Mediterranean preferential rules of origin (the ‘Convention’) was concluded by the Union by Council Decision 2013/94/EU (2) and entered into force in relation to the Union on 1 May 2012. By Decision (EU) 2019/2198 (3), the Council supported the amendment of the Convention providing for a new set of modernised and more flexible rules of origin (the ‘amendment of the Convention’). The amendment of the Convention will enter into force on 1 January 2025.


(6) At the technical meeting held in Brussels on 5 February 2020, the majority of the Contracting Parties to the Convention agreed to implement an alternative set of rules of origin, based on the amendment of the Convention on a transitional, bilateral basis (the ‘Transitional rules’). The Transitional rules apply in parallel with the rules of the Convention, pending the entry into force of the amendment of the Convention.


(7) The application of the Transitional rules ensures the adaptation of the trade flows and customs practices pending the entry into force of the amendment of the Convention.


(1) Council Decision 97/126/EC of 6 December 1996 concerning the conclusion of an agreement between the European Community, of the one part, and the Government of Denmark and the Home Government of the Faroe Islands, of the other part (OJ L 53, 22.2.1997, p. 1).


(2) Council Decision 2013/94/EU of 26 March 2012 on the conclusion of the Regional Convention on pan-Euro-Mediterranean preferential rules of origin (OJ L 54, 26.2.2013, p. 3).


(3) Council Decision (EU) 2019/2198 of 25 November 2019 on the position to be taken on behalf of the European Union within the Joint Committee established by the Regional Convention on pan-Euro-Mediterranean preferential rules of origin as regards the amendment of the Convention (OJ L 339, 30.12.2019, p. 1).


(8) Since 1 September 2021, a number of bilateral protocols on rules of origin among several Contracting Parties to the Convention (4) have entered into force, rendering the Transitional rules applicable pending the entry into force of the amendment of the Convention. As regards the Kingdom of Denmark (‘Denmark’) and the Faroe Islands, Protocol 3 to the Agreement was replaced by a new Protocol 3 by Decision No 1/2021 of the EC/Denmark-Faroe Islands Joint Committee (5). The Transitional rules are set out in Appendix A to that new Protocol 3.


(9) The two main objectives of the Transitional rules are, firstly, to provide for less strict rules, making it easier for goods to qualify for preferential originating status and, secondly, to enable the use of proofs of origin that have been issued electronically and/or submitted electronically.


(10) The Union on the one hand, and Denmark and the Faroe Islands on the other hand, have agreed to apply Article 17(4) of Appendix A to Protocol 3 to the Agreement, as regards proofs of origin issued electronically. Therefore, a framework of general requirements for proofs of origin issued electronically should be determined.


(11) The position of the Union within the Joint Committee should therefore be based on the attached draft decision.