{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/eu-decision-2016-1623/introduction",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/eu-decision-2016-1623/introduction.json",
  "legislation": "eudn/2016/1623",
  "legislation_title": "Council Decision (EU) 2016/1623 of 1 June 2016 on the signing, on behalf of the European Union and provisional application of the Economic Partnership Agreement between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part, and the SADC EPA States, of the other part",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/eu-decision-2016-1623",
  "path": "introduction",
  "kind": "introduction",
  "number": null,
  "heading": "Introductory text",
  "text": "Council Decision (EU) 2016/1623\nof 1 June 2016\non the signing, on behalf of the European Union and provisional application of the Economic Partnership Agreement between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part, and the SADC EPA States, of the other part\nTHE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,\nHaving regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 207(3) and (4) and Article 209(2), in conjunction with Article 218(5) thereof,\nHaving regard to the proposal from the European Commission,\nWhereas:\n(1)\nOn 12 June 2002, the Council authorised the Commission to open negotiations for Economic Partnership Agreements with the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States.\n(2)\nThe negotiations have been concluded and the Economic Partnership Agreement between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part, and the SADC EPA States (comprising Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland and South Africa), of the other part (‘the Agreement’), was initialled on 15 July 2014.\n(3)\nThe Partnership Agreement between the members of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States, of the one part, and the European Community and its Member States, of the other part, signed in Cotonou on 23 June 2000, calls for the conclusion of WTO-compatible Economic Partnership Agreements.\n(4)\nArticle 113(3) of the Agreement provides for its provisional application by the Union and the SADC EPA States pending its entry into force.\n(5)\nThe Agreement should be signed on behalf of the Union and it should be applied, as regards those elements falling within the competence of the Union, on a provisional basis, pending the completion of the procedures for its conclusion,\nHAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:",
  "extent": "E+W+S+N.I.",
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [],
  "outstanding_effects": [],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eudn/2016/1623/introduction",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-11-01T15:13:50.829895+00:00"
  },
  "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0",
  "licence_url": "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/",
  "attribution": "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives."
}