COMMISSION OPINION pursuant to the second paragraph of Article 245 of the EC Treaty on the draft Council Decision amending Article 20 of the Protocol on the Statute of the Court of Justice

1. As the Court indicated in the statement of grounds accompanying its request of 17 October 2001, [1] the proposed amendment has become necessary following the entry into force of the Agreement concluded by the Council in 1999 with the Republic of Iceland and the Kingdom of Norway concerning their association with the implementation, application and development of the Schengen acquis (OJ L 176, 10.7.1999). Article 9(2) of the Agreement allows the two non-Member States to participate in preliminary ruling proceedings before the Court of Justice.

[1] Council document No 12991/01 of 19 October 2001.

2. A similar amendment to the one proposed here was made to Article 20 of the Statute of the Court in order to enable Member States party to the EEA Agreement, as well as the EFTA Surveillance Authority, to participate in preliminary ruling proceedings before the Court of Justice.

3. The proposed wording will avoid the need to amend Article 20 on the entry into force of any new agreements providing for the participation of non-Member States in preliminary ruling proceedings.

The Commission approves the text proposed by the Court of Justice.