Introductory text
United Kingdom
Council Decision (EU) 2018/253
of 15 February 2018
on the position to be taken on behalf of the European Union within the Joint Committee established by the Partnership Agreement on Relations and Cooperation between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part, and New Zealand, of the other part, as regards the adoption of decisions on the rules of procedure of the Joint Committee and the adoption of the terms of reference of the subcommittees and working groups
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty on European Union, and in particular Article 37 thereof,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 207 and Article 212(1), in conjunction with Article 218(9) thereof,
Having regard to the joint proposal by the European Commission and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy,
Whereas:
(1)
The Partnership Agreement on Relations and Cooperation between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part, and New Zealand, of the other partf1 (‘the Agreement’) was signed in Brussels on 5 October 2016 and it is provisionally applied as of 12 January 2017.
(2)
Article 53(1) of the Agreement establishes a Joint Committee to facilitate the implementation of the Agreement (‘the Joint Committee’).
(3)
Article 53(4) of the Agreement provides that the Joint Committee is to adopt its rules of procedure and that it may set-up sub-committees and working groups to deal with specific issues.
(4)
Article 53(5) of the Agreement provides that the Parties are to co-chair the Joint Committee.
(5)
In order to ensure the effective implementation of the Agreement, the Joint Committee's rules of procedure and the terms of reference of the sub-committees and working groups should be adopted as soon as possible.
(6)
The position of the Union within the Joint Committee should therefore be based on the attached draft Joint Committee Decisions,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION: