PURPOSE: to include Romania and Bulgaria in the Protocol to the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement between the European Union and Azerbaijan.
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 the Republic of Azerbaijan (AVC/1996/0094), of the other part, is a “mixed” agreement, which entered into force on 1 July 1999, i.e. before the enlargement of the Union to include the Republic of Bulgaria and Romania.
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 the Republic of Azerbaijan with a view to concluding a Protocol to the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement. The negotiations with the Republic of Azerbaijan have subsequently been completed. The text of the negotiated protocol is attached.
The Commission proposes that the Council should conclude the Protocol on behalf of the European Community and its Member States and gives its approval for conclusion of the Protocol by the European Atomic Energy Community.