Introductory text

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular the first subparagraph of Article 207(4) and Article 218(9) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,

Whereas:

The Association Agreement between the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community and their Member States, of the one part, and Ukraine, of the other part^f1 (the ‘Agreement’) entered into force on 1 September 2017. Article 486(3) and (4) thereof provides for the provisional application of the Agreement in part, as specified by the Union.

Article 4 of Council Decision 2014/668/EU^f2 specifies the provisions of the Agreement to be applied provisionally, including those related to the elimination of customs duties and those related to Annexes I-A to I-D to Chapter 1 of Title IV of the Agreement. The provisional application has been effective since 1 January 2016.

Having unilaterally anticipated the implementation of the Schedule of concessions set out in Annex I-A to Chapter 1 of Title IV of the Agreement by means of the autonomous trade preferences provided for under Regulation (EU) No 374/2014 of the European Parliament and the Council^f3, the Union has already applied the specific modalities of implementation of the schedule (‘staging categories’) which were agreed by the Parties.

A clarification on the modalities of tariff dismantlement was adopted by means of Regulation (EU) No 1150/2014 of the European Parliament and the Council^f4, in the context of the amendment to the autonomous trade preferences, with a view to specifying the reduction to be applied to the base rate of customs duties for each staging category referred to in Annex I to Regulation (EU) No 374/2014.

An equivalent clarification is required to ensure that the same modalities, reflecting the joint understanding reached by the Parties during negotiations, are clearly set out for the optimal implementation of the Schedule of concessions. Such modalities are to be applied by both parties to the Agreement.

Annex I-C to Chapter 1 of Title IV of the Agreement, setting out the schedules of export duty elimination of Ukraine, provides that the recalculation of the table is needed in order to maintain the relative preference, that is, same proportion, compared to the WTO-bound export duty rates applicable for each period in case the trade-related provisions of the Agreement enter into force after 15 May 2014.

Annex I-D to Chapter 1 of Title IV of the Agreement, setting out safeguard measures in the form of a surcharge to be applied to the export duty for specific goods, also provides that the recalculation of the table is needed in order to maintain the relative preference, that is, same proportion, compared to the WTO-bound export duty rates applicable for each period in case the trade-related provisions of the Agreement enter into force after 15 May 2014.

A technical amendment in Annex I-C to Chapter 1 of Title IV of the Agreement is required to tariff code 1207 9997 00 to reflect the correct description as per United Commodities Classifier (UKTZED) of Ukraine.

By Decision No 3/2014^f5, the EU-Ukraine Association Council empowered the Association Committee in Trade configuration (the ‘Trade Committee’) to update or amend certain trade-related annexes, including Annexes I-C and I-D to Chapter 1 of Title IV of the Agreement.

The position of the Union within the Association Council and within the Trade Committee configuration should therefore be based on the attached draft Decisions,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION: