PROTOCOL

to the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement establishing a partnership between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Azerbaijan, of the other part, to take account of the accession of the Czech Republic, the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Cyprus, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Malta, the Republic of Poland, the Republic of Slovenia, and the Slovak Republic to the European Union

THE KINGDOM OF BELGIUM,

THE CZECH REPUBLIC,

THE KINGDOM OF DENMARK,

THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY,

THE REPUBLIC OF ESTONIA,

THE HELLENIC REPUBLIC,

THE KINGDOM OF SPAIN,

THE FRENCH REPUBLIC,

IRELAND,

THE ITALIAN REPUBLIC,

THE REPUBLIC OF CYPRUS,

THE REPUBLIC OF LATVIA,

THE REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA,

THE GRAND DUCHY OF LUXEMBOURG,

THE REPUBLIC OF HUNGARY,

THE REPUBLIC OF MALTA,

THE KINGDOM OF THE NETHERLANDS,

THE REPUBLIC OF AUSTRIA,

THE REPUBLIC OF POLAND,

THE PORTUGUESE REPUBLIC,

THE REPUBLIC OF SLOVENIA,

THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC,

THE REPUBLIC OF FINLAND,

THE KINGDOM OF SWEDEN,

THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND,

hereinafter referred to as the ‘Member States’ represented by the Council of the European Union, and

THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY AND THE EUROPEAN ATOMIC ENERGY COMMUNITY,

hereinafter referred to as ‘the Communities’ represented by the Council of the European Union and the European Commission,

of the one part, and

THE REPUBLIC OF AZERBAIJAN,

of the other part,

HAVING REGARD TO the accession of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia to the European Union on 1 May 2004,

HAVE AGREED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1

The Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia shall be Parties to the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement, establishing a partnership between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Azerbaijan, of the other part, signed in Luxembourg on 22 April 1996 (hereinafter the Agreement) and shall respectively adopt and take note, in the same manner as the other Member States of the Community, of the texts of the Agreement and of the documents attached to it.

Article 2

To take account of recent institutional developments within the European Union, the Parties agree that, following expiry of the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community, existing provisions in the Agreement referring to the European Coal and Steel Community shall be deemed to refer to the European Community, which has taken over all rights and obligations contracted by the European Coal and Steel Community.

Article 3

This Protocol shall form an integral part of the Agreement.

Article 4

1.   This Protocol shall be approved by the Communities, by the Council of the European Union on behalf of the Member States, and by the Republic of Azerbaijan in accordance with their own procedures.

2.   The Parties shall notify each other of the accomplishment of the corresponding procedures referred to in the preceding paragraph. The instruments of approval shall be deposited with the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union.

Article 5

1.   This Protocol shall enter into force on the same day as the 2003 Treaty of Accession, provided that all the instruments of approval of this Protocol have been deposited before that date.

2.   Where not all the instruments of approval of this Protocol have been deposited before that date, this Protocol shall enter into force on the first day of the first month following the date of the deposit of the last instrument of approval.

3.   Where not all the instruments of approval of this Protocol have been deposited before 1 May 2004, this Protocol shall apply provisionally with effect from 1 May 2004.

Article 6

The texts of the Agreement, the Final Act and all documents annexed to it are drawn up in the Czech, Estonian, Hungarian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Slovak and Slovene languages.

These texts are annexed (1) to this Protocol and are equally authentic with the texts in the other languages in which the Agreement, the Final Act and the documents annexed to it are drawn up.

Article 7

This Protocol is drawn up in duplicate in the Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Slovak, Slovene, Spanish, Swedish and in Azerbaijani languages, each of these texts being equally authentic.

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(1)  The Czech, Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Hungarian, Maltese, Polish, Slovak and Slovenian versions of the Agreement shall be published in the special edition of the Official Journal at a later date.