Introductory text

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 207 in conjunction with Article 218(9) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,

Whereas:

Joint Declaration V^f1 to Decision No 2/2000 of the EC-Mexico Joint Council^f2 established by the Economic Partnership, Political Coordination and Cooperation Agreement between the European Community and its Member States, of the one part, and the United Mexican States, of the other part, signed in Brussels on 8 December 1997^f3 (‘the Agreement’), provides that the EC-Mexico Joint Committee established by the Agreement is to review the necessity to extend beyond 30 June 2003 the application of the rules of origin set out in Notes 2 and 3 of Appendix II(a) to Annex III to Decision No 2/2000 (‘Notes 2 and 3’). That review concerns the product-specific rules in Appendix II to Annex III to Decision No 2/2000 for certain chemical products under the Harmonised System headings 2914 and 2915.

On 17 September 2010 the EU-Mexico Joint Committee adopted Decision No 1/2010^f4, extending the application of the rules of origin established in Notes 2 and 3 for the third time. Decision No 1/2010 applied until 30 June 2014.

It is appropriate to extend the application of the rules of origin established in Notes 2 and 3 on a temporary basis with effect from 1 July 2014 until 31 December 2019, in line with the principles of the modernisation of the Agreement, to ensure continuity with future product-specific rules.

Since the extension of the application of the rules of origin established in Notes 2 and 3 expired on 30 June 2014, it is appropriate to apply the new extension retroactively from 1 July 2014, in order to avoid disrupting existing economic conditions.

Appendix II to Annex III to Decision No 2/2000 should therefore be amended to extend the application of the rules of origin established in Notes 2 and 3 on a temporary basis with effect from 1 July 2014 until 31 December 2019.

For the purposes of the retroactive application, the time limit for presentation of the proof of origin by way of a EUR.1 movement certificate or an invoice declaration should be extended from 2 years to 3 years for the relevant chemical products imported into the Union in the period from 1 July 2014 to 30 June 2015.

Appendix V to Annex III to Decision No 2/2000 should therefore be replaced.

The position of the Union within the EU-Mexico Joint Committee should therefore be based on the attached draft Decision,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION: