PURPOSE: to include Romania and Bulgaria in the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement between the European Community and its Member States and Ukraine.
PROPOSED ACT: Council and Commission Decision.
CONTENT: the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and Ukraine, of the other part, is a “mixed” agreement, which entered into force on 1 March 1998, i.e. before the enlargement of the Union to include the Republic of Bulgaria and Romania (see AVC/1994/0136).
A Protocol to the PCA therefore needs to be drawn up to allow the new Member States to accede to the Agreement, in accordance with Article 6(2) of the Act of Accession annexed to the Treaty of Accession of 25 April 2005.
On 23 October 2006, the Council authorised the Commission to open negotiations, on behalf of the Community and its Member States, with Ukraine with a view to concluding a Protocol to the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement. The negotiations with Ukraine have subsequently been completed. The text of the negotiated protocol is attached. It is now proposed that the Council approve the draft decision on the conclusion of the Protocol following the European Parliament’s opinion.