Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES): accession of the EU

PURPOSE: to approve the accession of the European Union to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

LEGISLATIVE ACT: Council Decision (EU) 2015/451 concerning the accession of the European Union to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

CONTENT: under this Council decision, the accession of the European Union to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) is hereby approved on behalf of the European Union.

The President of the Council is hereby authorised to designate the person empowered to deposit, on behalf of the Union, the instrument of accession in order to express the consent of the Union to be bound by the Convention.

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) to which 178 countries, including all Member States, are a party, is a major international environmental instrument aiming to protect endangered species of fauna and flora through controls on international trade in specimens of those species. The matters covered by the Convention relate essentially to the protection of the environment.

Accession to the Convention by the Union will enable it to play a role in the work of the Convention and will legally bind the Union to implement and enforce the Convention in matters falling within its competence.

The European Union declared that, in accordance with the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 192(1) thereof, it is competent for entering into international agreements, and for implementing the obligations resulting therefrom, which contribute to the pursuit of the following objectives:

·         preserving, protecting and improving the quality of the environment;

·         protecting human health;

·         prudent and rational utilisation of natural resources;

·         promoting measures at international level to deal with regional or worldwide environmental problems, including climate change.

The EU declared that it is responsible for the performance of those obligations resulting from the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora which are covered by European Union legislation in force. The exercise of European Union competence is, by its nature, subject to continuous development.