(1)

The first paragraph of Article 252 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union establishes that the Council, acting unanimously, may increase the number of Advocates-General on the request of the Court of Justice.

(2)

On 16 January 2013, the Court of Justice requested that the number of Advocates-General of the Court of Justice be increased by three. That request was motivated by the desire to allow the Court to continue to have an Opinion delivered in every case in which it is required without thereby increasing the overall time taken to deal with the cases concerned.

(3)

According to Declaration No 38 on Article 252 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union regarding the number of Advocates-General of the Court of Justice, annexed to the Final Act of the Intergovernmental Conference which adopted the Treaty of Lisbon, if the Court of Justice requests that the number of Advocates-General be increased by three (eleven instead of eight), the Council will, acting unanimously, agree on such an increase.

(4)

In order best to satisfy the concerns expressed in the second recital and to ensure the optimal integration of the additional Advocates-General, the Court of Justice proposed that one Advocate-General take up his duties on 1 July 2013, the planned date of Croatia’s accession, provided that all of the instruments of ratification have been lodged before this date, and that the two other Advocates-General take up their duties on 7 October 2015, on the occasion of the partial replacement of the Members of the Court,

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nine, with effect from 1 July 2013;

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eleven, with effect from 7 October 2015.