The position of the Council fully reflects the
agreement reached in the trilogue between the Council, the European
Parliament and the Commission, as concluded on 29th May 2012. The
Commission fully supported this agreement, the main points of which
are as following:
- to clarify the status under the law of the Union of
bilateral investment agreements of the Member States signed before
the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty, by confirming that those
agreements may be maintained in force (or enter into force) until
they are replaced by the investment agreement of the
Union;
- to establish the conditions under which Member States
may be empowered to conclude and/or maintain in force bilateral
investment agreements signed between the entry into force of the
Lisbon Treaty and the entry into force of this
Regulation;
- to streamline the conditions and procedures under
which Member States may be empowered to amend or conclude bilateral
investment agreements with third countries after entry into force
of the Regulation;
- to ensure that maintenance in force of investment
agreements by Member States, or authorisation to open negotiations
or conclude bilateral investment agreements with third countries
will not prevent the negotiation or conclusion of future investment
agreements by the Union;
- to confer on the Commission implementing powers in
accordance with Regulation (EU) No 182/2011, and to apply advisory
procedure for the adoption of authorisation decisions pursuant to
the Regulation.
Joint Declaration: the
Commission accepted and subscribed to the joint declaration of the
Council, the Parliament and the Commission that the use of
comitology in the Regulation should not be considered as a
precedent for future acts on empowerment of Member States under the
EU exclusive competences, and that the choice of the advisory
procedure should not be considered as a precedent for future
implementing acts under the Common Commercial Policy.