Introductory text

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Articles 54, 57, 63, 66, 73b to 73f, 99, 100, 100a and 113, in conjunction with the second sentence of Article 228 (2) and the first subparagraph of Article 228 (3) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament^f1,

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee^f2,

Whereas the Marrakesh Agreement establishing the World Trade Organization and its related agreements as well as the Ministerial Decisions and Declarations and the Understanding on Commitments in Financial Services were approved by a Council Decision of 22 December 1994^f3;

Whereas the overall commitments on financial services negotiated by the Commission, on behalf of the European Community and its Member States, constitute a satisfactory and balanced outcome for the interim period concerned;

Whereas some commitments were negotiated by the Commission, on behalf of the European Community and its Member States, on the movement of natural persons for the purpose of supplying services;

Whereas on 26 July 1995 the Council authorized the Commission to approve, on behalf of the European Community and its Member States, the Decision of the Committee on Trade in Financial Services adopting the Second Protocol annexed to the General Agreement on Trade in Services, the Decision of the Council for Trade in Services on Commitments on Financial Services and the second Decision of the Council for Trade in Services on Financial Services as well as the Decision of the Council for Trade in Services on movement of natural persons commitments, adopting the Third Protocol to the General Agreement on Trade in Services;

Whereas the competence of the Community to conclude international agreements derives not only from explicit conferral by the Treaty but may also derive from other provisions of the Treaty and from acts adopted pursuant to those provisions by Community institutions;

Whereas, where Community rules have been adopted in order to achieve the aims of the Treaty, Member States may not, outside the framework of the common institutions, enter into commitments liable to affect those rules or alter their scope;

Whereas some commitments on financial services fall within the competence of the Community under Article 113 of the Treaty, whereas, furthermore, other commitments on financial services as well as the commitments on the movement of natural persons affect Community rules adopted on the basis of Articles 54, 57, 63, 66, 99, 100 and 100a, and may therefore only be entered into by the Community alone;

Whereas, in particular, the use of Article 100 of the Treaty as a legal base for this Decision is justified to the extent that the aforementioned commitments on financial services affect Council Directive 90/434/EEC of 23 July 1990 on the common system of taxation applicable to mergers, divisions, transfers of assets and exchanges of shares concerning companies of different Member States^f4 and Council Directive 90/435/EEC of 23 July 1990 on the common system of taxation applicable in the case of parent companies and subsidiaries of different Member States^f5, which are based on Article 100 of the Treaty;

Whereas, with regard to capital movement commitments contained in the list of specific commitments of the Community and of the Member States and in the present state of Community law, Member States remain competent to act, within the limit laid down by the provisions of Article 73c of the Treaty;

Whereas, by their nature, the Agreement establishing the World Trade Organization and the Protocols to the General Agreement on Trade in Services, are not likely to be directly invoked before Community or Member States' courts,

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS: