PURPOSE: to include Bulgaria and Romania in the Stabilisation and Associated Agreement between the EU and Croatia.
PROPOSED ACT: Council Decision.
CONTENT: on 17 October, the Commission presented a proposal for a decision aiming to conclude a Protocol to the Stabilisation and Association Agreement between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Croatia, of the other part, to take account of the accession of the Republic of Bulgaria and Romania to the European Union (see COM(2007)0612).
To recall, the European Community and its Member States concluded a Stabilisation and Association Protocol with Croatia in 2005 (for more details refer to AVC/2001/0149).
On 23 October 2006, the Council authorised the Commission to open negotiations, on behalf of the Community and its Member States, with the Republic of Croatia in order to conclude a Protocol to the Stabilisation and Association Agreement between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Croatia, of the other part, to take account of the accession of the Republic of Bulgaria and Romania to the European Union.
These negotiations started on 14 December 2006 and continued until 17 April 2007. The Protocol was initialled by the Commission and the Government of the Republic of Croatia on 19 July 2007.
It was decided that the Protocol should be applied on a provisional basis with effect from 1 August 2007 and subject to its possible conclusion at a later date.
The final Protocol to the EU-Croatia Stabilisation and Association Agreement was signed on behalf of the Community on 15 July 2008 in accordance with Council Decision 2008/800/EC.
The text of the Protocol is attached to the proposal for a decision and can be found in Council doc 15834/07.
The decision requires the European Parliament’s assent.