EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

1.           In the context of a people’s Europe, the Commission attaches great importance to simplifying and clarifying the law of the Union so as to make it clearer and more accessible to citizens, thus giving them new opportunities and the chance to make use of the specific rights it gives them.

This aim cannot be achieved so long as numerous provisions that have been amended several times, often quite substantially, remain scattered, so that they must be sought partly in the original instrument and partly in later amending ones. Considerable research work, comparing many different instruments, is thus needed to identify the current rules.

For this reason a codification of rules that have frequently been amended is also essential if the law is to be clear and transparent.

2.           On 1 April 1987 the Commission decided[1] to instruct its staff that all acts should be codified after no more than ten amendments, stressing that this is a minimum requirement and that departments should endeavour to codify at even shorter intervals the texts for which they are responsible, to ensure that their provisions are clear and readily understandable.

3.           The Conclusions of the Presidency of the Edinburgh European Council (December 1992) confirmed this[2], stressing the importance of codification as it offers certainty as to the law applicable to a given matter at a given time.

Codification must be undertaken in full compliance with the normal procedure for the adoption of acts of the Union.

Given that no changes of substance may be made to the instruments affected by codification, the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission have agreed, by an interinstitutional agreement dated 20 December 1994, that an accelerated procedure may be used for the fast-track adoption of codification instruments.

4.           The purpose of this proposal is to undertake a codification of Council Regulation (EC) No 779/98 of 7 April 1998 on the import into the Community of agricultural products originating in Turkey, repealing Regulation (EEC) No 4115/86 and amending Regulation (EC) No 3010/95[3]. The new Regulation will supersede the various acts incorporated in it[4]; this proposal fully preserves the content of the acts being codified and hence does no more than bring them together with only such formal amendments as are required by the codification exercise itself.

5.           The codification proposal was drawn up on the basis of a preliminary consolidation, in 23 official languages, of Regulation (EC) No 779/98 and the instrument amending it, carried out by the Publications Office of the European Union, by means of a data-processing system. Where the Articles have been given new numbers, the correlation between the old and the new numbers is shown in a table set out in Annex II to the codified Regulation.

ê 779/98 (adapted)

2014/0272 (COD)

Proposal for a

REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL

on the import into the Ö Union Õ of agricultural products originating in Turkey (codification)

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty Ö on the Functioning of the European Union Õ , and in particular Article Ö 207(2) Õ thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,

After transmission of the draft legislative act to the national Parliaments,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee[5],

Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure,

Whereas:

ê

(1)       Council Regulation (EC) No 779/98[6] has been substantially amended[7]. In the interests of clarity and rationality, that Regulation should be codified.

ê 779/98 recital 1 (adapted)

(2)       Decision No 1/98 of the EC-Turkey Association Council[8] establishes the system of preferences applicable to imports into the Ö Union Õ of agricultural products originating in Turkey.

ê 779/98 recital 2 (adapted)

(3)       In the case of products for which Ö Union Õ regulations require a certain import price to be observed, Ö the Õ application of the preferential tariff system is subject to Ö the Õ observance of that price.

ê 255/2014 recital 6 (adapted)

(4)       In order to ensure uniform conditions for the implementation of Ö this Õ Regulation, implementing powers should be conferred on the Commission. Those powers should be exercised in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council[9],

ê 779/98 (adapted)

Ö HAVE Õ ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

ê 255/2014 Art. 2.1 (adapted)

Article 1

The Commission shall, by means of implementing acts, adopt rules necessary for the application of the import regime for the products listed in Annex I to the Treaty which originate in Turkey and which are imported into the Union under the conditions laid down in Decision No 1/98 of the EC-Turkey Association Council. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 3(2) Ö of this Regulation Õ.

ê 779/98 (adapted)

Article 2

1. In the case of products for which Ö Union Õ regulations require a certain import price to be observed, Ö the Õ application of the preferential tariff system shall be subject to Ö the Õ observance of that price.

2. In the case of fishery products for which a reference price is set, Ö the Õ application of the preferential tariff shall be subject to Ö the Õ observance of that price.

ê 255/2014 Art. 2.2

Article 3

1. The Commission shall be assisted by the Committee for the Common Organisation of the Agricultural Markets established by Article 229 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council[10]. That Committee shall be a committee within the meaning of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011.

2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Article 5 of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 shall apply.

3. Where the opinion of the committee is to be obtained by written procedure, that procedure shall be terminated without result when, within the time-limit for delivery of the opinion, the chair of the committee so decides or at least a quarter of committee members so request.

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Article 4

Regulation (EC) No 779/98 is repealed.

References to the repealed Regulation shall be construed as references to this Regulation and shall be read in accordance with the correlation table in Annex II.

ê 779/98 (adapted)

Article 5

This Regulation shall enter into force on the Ö twentieth Õ day Ö following that Õ of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Ö Union Õ .

ê 779/98

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels,

For the European Parliament                        For the Council

The President                                                 The President

[1]               COM(87) 868 PV.

[2]               See Annex 3 to Part A of the Conclusions.

[3]               Entered in the legislative programme for 2014.

[4]               See Annex I to this proposal.

[5]               OJ C […], […], […].

[6]                      Council Regulation (EC) No 779/98 of 7 April 1998 on the import into the Community of agricultural products originating in Turkey, repealing Regulation (EEC) No 4115/86 and amending Regulation (EC) No 3010/95 (OJ L 113, 15.4.1998, p. 1).

[7]               See Annex I.

[8]               Decision No 1/98 of the EC-Turkey Association Council of 25 February 1998 on the trade regime for agricultural products (OJ L 86, 20.3.1998, p. 1).

[9]               Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 February 2011 laying down the rules and general principles concerning mechanisms for control by Member States of the Commission’s exercise of implementing powers (OJ L 55, 28.2.2011, p. 13).

[10]             Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 establishing a common organisation of the markets in agricultural products and repealing Council Regulations (EEC) No 922/72, (EEC) No 234/79, (EC) No 1037/2001 and (EC) No 1234/2007 (OJ L 347, 20.12.2013, p. 671).

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ANNEX I

Repealed Regulation with the amendment thereto

Council Regulation (EC) No 779/98 (OJ L 113, 15.4.1998, p. 1) || ||

|| Regulation (EU) No 255/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 84, 20.3.2014, p. 57) || Article 2 only

_____________

ANNEX II

Correlation Table

Regulation (EC) No 779/98 || This Regulation

Article 1 || Article 1

Article 2, first paragraph || Article 2(1)

Article 2, second paragraph || Article 2(2)

Article 2a || Article 3

Article 3 || –

Article 4 || –

– || Article 4

Article 5 || Article 5

– || Annex I

– || Annex II

_____________