(1)

Council Regulation (EU) No 36/2012 (2) gives effect to most of the measures provided for in Decision 2013/255/CFSP.

(2)

On 12 December 2014, the Council adopted Decision 2014/901/CFSP (3) amending Decision 2013/255/CFSP in order to prevent jet fuels and additives being sold, supplied, transferred or exported, whether or not originating in the Union, to any person, entity or body in Syria, or for use in Syria.

(3)

Furthermore, it should be prohibited to provide financing or financial assistance, including financial derivatives, as well as insurance and reinsurance or brokering services, to any person, entity or body in Syria or for use in Syria with respect to the sale, supply, transfer or export of jet fuels and additives in Syria, or for use in Syria.

(4)

It is necessary to provide for a prohibition on the participation, knowing and intentional, in activities the object or effect of which is to circumvent the provisions of this Regulation.

(5)

It is necessary to amend the no claims clause provided for in Regulation (EU) No 36/2012 in accordance with the wording of the Guidelines on implementation and evaluation of restrictive measures (sanctions) in the framework of the EU Common Foreign and Security Policy.

(6)

These measures fall within the scope of the Treaty and, therefore, in particular with a view to ensuring their uniform application by economic operators in all Member States, action at the level of the Union is necessary in order to implement them.

(7)

Regulation (EU) No 36/2012 should therefore be amended accordingly,

(1)

The following Article is inserted:

(2)

Article 27 is replaced by the following:

(3)

The following Article is inserted:

(4)

Annex I to this Regulation is inserted as Annex Va to Regulation (EU) No 36/2012.

(5)

Annex II to this Regulation is inserted as Annex Vb to Regulation (EU) No 36/2012.

(1)

Council Regulation (EU) No 43/2014 (2), lays down quotas for 2014.

(2)

According to the information received by the Commission, catches of the stock referred to in the Annex to this Regulation by vessels flying the flag of or registered in the Member State referred to therein have exhausted the quota allocated for 2014.

(3)

It is therefore necessary to prohibit fishing activities for that stock,

(1)

Council Regulation (EU) No 43/2014 (2), lays down quotas for 2014.

(2)

According to the information received by the Commission, catches of the stock referred to in the Annex to this Regulation by vessels flying the flag of or registered in the Member State referred to therein have exhausted the quota allocated for 2014.

(3)

It is therefore necessary to prohibit fishing activities for that stock,

(1)

Council Regulation (EU) No 43/2014 (2), lays down quotas for 2014.

(2)

According to the information received by the Commission, catches of the stock referred to in the Annex to this Regulation by vessels flying the flag of or registered in the Member State referred to therein have exhausted the quota allocated for 2014.

(3)

It is therefore necessary to prohibit fishing activities for that stock,

(1)

Commission Regulation (EC) No 1881/2006 (2) sets maximum levels for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in food, including smoked meat and meat products and smoked fish and fishery products.

(2)

According to that Regulation, maximum levels for PAHs must be safe and as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA) based upon good manufacturing and agricultural/fishery practices. In 2011, data for smoked fish and smoked meat have shown that lower maximum levels were achievable. Nevertheless, adaptations of smoking technology were necessary in some cases. Therefore, for smoked meat and meat products and smoked fish and fishery products a transition period of three years was granted before the lower maximum levels become applicable as from 1 September 2014.

(3)

However recent evidence is demonstrating that, despite the application of good smoking practices to the extent possible, the lower levels for PAHs are not achievable in several Member States in certain cases of traditionally smoked meat and meat products and traditionally smoked fish and fishery products, as in those cases the smoking practices cannot be changed without changing significantly the organoleptic characteristics of the food. Consequently such traditionally smoked products would disappear from the market resulting in the closure of many small and medium size enterprises (SMEs).

(4)

Therefore it is appropriate to provide a derogation from the application of the lower maximum levels for PAHs as of 1 September 2014 for certain Member States for 3 years for local production and consumption of traditionally smoked meat and meat products and/or fish and fishery products. The current applicable maximum levels should continue to apply to those smoked products. This derogation should cover generally all meat and meat products and/or fish and fishery products without giving specific names of foodstuffs.

(5)

The Member States concerned should continue to monitor the presence of PAHs in those products and to establish programmes to implement good smoking practices where possible.

(6)

Within three years from the application of this Regulation, the situation should be re-assessed on the basis of all available information, which could result in a more limited and detailed list of smoked meat and meat products, fish and fishery products for which then a derogation for local production and consumption could be granted without a time limit.

(7)

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed,

(1)

Implementing Regulation (EU) No 543/2011 lays down, pursuant to the outcome of the Uruguay Round multilateral trade negotiations, the criteria whereby the Commission fixes the standard values for imports from third countries, in respect of the products and periods stipulated in Annex XVI, Part A thereto.

(2)

The standard import value is calculated each working day, in accordance with Article 136(1) of Implementing Regulation (EU) No 543/2011, taking into account variable daily data. Therefore this Regulation should enter into force on the day of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union,

(1)

Pursuant to Article 6(1) of Joint Action 2004/570/CFSP, the Council authorised the Political and Security Committee (PSC) to take further decisions on the appointment of the EU Force Commander.

(2)

On 27 November 2012, the PSC adopted Decision BiH/19/2012 (2) appointing Major General Dieter HEIDECKER as EU Force Commander for the European Union military operation in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

(3)

The EU Operation Commander has recommended the appointment of Major General Johann LUIF as the new EU Force Commander for the European Union military operation in Bosnia and Herzegovina to succeed Major General Dieter HEIDECKER.

(4)

The EU Military Committee has supported the recommendation.

(5)

Decision BiH/19/2012 should therefore be repealed.

(6)

In accordance with Article 5 of Protocol No 22 on the position of Denmark, annexed to the Treaty on European Union and to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, Denmark does not participate in the elaboration and the implementation of decisions and actions of the Union which have defence implications.

(7)

On 12 and 13 December 2002, the Copenhagen European Council adopted a Declaration stating that the ‘Berlin plus’ arrangements and the implementation thereof will apply only to those Member States of the Union which are also either NATO members or parties to the ‘Partnership for Peace’, and which have consequently concluded bilateral security agreements with NATO,

(1)

Convention 90/436/EEC (1) (‘the Arbitration Convention’) was signed at Brussels on 23 July 1990 and entered into force on 1 January 1995.

(2)

The Arbitration Convention was amended by a Protocol signed on 25 May 1999 (2), a Convention signed on 21 December 1995 (3) and a Convention signed on 8 December 2004 (4), as well as by Council Decision 2008/492/EC (5).

(3)

Pursuant to Article 3(4) of the Act of Accession of Croatia, Croatia is to accede to the conventions and protocols concluded between the Member States, listed in Annex I to the Act of Accession. Those conventions and protocols are to enter into force in relation to Croatia on the date determined by the Council.

(4)

Pursuant to Article 3(5) of the Act of Accession of Croatia the Council is to make all adjustments required by reason of Croatia's accession to those conventions and protocols and to publish the adapted texts in the Official Journal of the European Union,

(1)

In Article 2(2), points (i) to (xxvii) are replaced by the following:

(2)

In Article 3(1), the list is replaced by the following:

(1)

From 1 November 2014, when an act is to be adopted by the Council acting by qualified majority, it must be verified that the Member States constituting the qualified majority represent at least 65 % of the population of the Union.

(2)

Until 31 March 2017, when an act is to be adopted by the Council acting by qualified majority, a member of the Council may request that it be adopted in accordance with the qualified majority as defined in Article 3(3) of Protocol No 36 on transitional provisions, annexed to the Treaty on European Union, to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and to the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community. In that case, a member of the Council may request that a check be made to ensure that the Member States constituting the qualified majority represent at least 62 % of the total population of the Union.

(3)

Those percentages are calculated according to the population figures set out in Annex III to the Council's Rules of Procedure (hereinafter ‘Rules of Procedure’).

(4)

Article 11(6) of the Rules of Procedure provides that, with effect from 1 January each year, the Council is to amend the figures set out in that Annex, in accordance with the data available to the Statistical Office of the European Union on 30 September of the preceding year.

(5)

The Rules of Procedure should therefore be amended accordingly for the year 2015,

(1)

On 31 May 2013, the Council adopted Decision 2013/255/CFSP.

(2)

On 20 October 2014, the Council agreed to impose a prohibition on the export of jet fuel and relevant additives to Syria as they are being used by the Assad regime's air force which undertakes indiscriminate air attacks against the civilian population.

(3)

Further action by the Union is needed in order to implement those measures.

(4)

Decision 2013/255/CFSP should therefore be amended accordingly,

(1)

The release for free circulation in the Union of imported controlled substances is subject to quantitative limits.

(2)

The Commission is required to determine those limits and allocate quotas to undertakings.

(3)

Furthermore, the Commission is required to determine the quantities of controlled substances other than hydrochlorofluorocarbons that may be used for essential laboratory and analytical uses, and the companies that may use them.

(4)

The determination of the allocated quotas for essential laboratory and analytical uses has to ensure that the quantitative limits set out in Article 10(6) of Regulation (EC) No 1005/2009 are respected, applying Commission Regulation (EU) No 537/2011 (2). As those quantitative limits include quantities of hydrochlorofluorocarbons licensed for laboratory and analytical uses, the production and import of hydrochlorofluorocarbons for those uses should also be covered by that allocation.

(5)

The Commission has published a notice to undertakings intending to import or export controlled substances that deplete the ozone layer to or from the European Union in 2015 and to undertakings intending to request for 2015 a quota for these substances intended for laboratory and analytical uses (3), and has thereby received declarations on intended imports in 2015.

(6)

The quantitative limits and quotas should be determined for the period 1 January to 31 December 2015, in line with the annual reporting cycle under the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer.

(7)

The measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee established by Article 25(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1005/2009,

(1)

On 30 June 2008 the company Reading Scientific Services Ltd made a request to the competent authorities of the Netherlands to place methyl vinyl ether-maleic anhydride copolymer on the market as a novel food ingredient for the use in chewing gum base.

(2)

On 14 July 2011, the competent food assessment body of the Netherlands issued its initial assessment report. In that report it came to the conclusion that methyl vinyl ether-maleic anhydride copolymer meets the criteria set out in Article 3(1) of Regulation (EC) No 258/97.

(3)

On 18 August 2011, the Commission forwarded the initial assessment report to the other Member States.

(4)

Reasoned objections were raised within the 60-day period laid down in the first subparagraph of Article 6(4) of Regulation (EC) No 258/97.

(5)

On 12 June 2012, the Commission consulted the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) asking it to carry out an additional assessment for methyl vinyl ether-maleic anhydride copolymer as food ingredient in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 258/97.

(6)

On 10 October 2013 EFSA adopted a Scientific Opinion on the safety of methyl vinyl ether-maleic anhydride copolymer (chewing gum base ingredient) as a novel food ingredient (2), concluding that it is safe under the proposed uses and use levels.

(7)

The opinion gives sufficient grounds to establish that methyl vinyl ether-maleic anhydride copolymer in the proposed use and use levels in chewing gum base complies with the criteria laid down in Article 3(1) of Regulation (EC) No 258/97.

(8)

The measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed,