(1)

Pursuant to the first subparagraph of Article 53(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012, the Commission has examined Spain’s application for the approval of amendments to the specification for the protected geographical indication ‘Tomate La Cañada’, registered under Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 487/2012 (2).

(2)

Since the amendments in question are not minor within the meaning of Article 53(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012, the Commission published the amendment application in the Official Journal of the European Union (3) as required by Article 50(2)(a) of that Regulation.

(3)

As no statement of opposition under Article 51 of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 has been received by the Commission, the amendments to the specification should be approved,

(1)

The objective of the proposed European citizens’ initiative entitled ‘Start Unconditional Basic Incomes (UBI) throughout the EU’, as amended by the group of organisers in reply to the Commission letter of 19 February 2020 (2), is ‘to establish the introduction of unconditional basic incomes throughout the EU which ensure every person’s material existence and opportunity to participate in society as part of its economic policy. This aim shall be reached while remaining within the competences conferred to the EU by the Treaties.’ The organisers request the Commission to make a proposal for unconditional basic incomes throughout the Union, which reduce regional disparities in order to strengthen the economic, social and territorial cohesion in the Union and indicate that ‘this shall realise the aim of the joint statement by the European Council, the European Parliament and the European Commission, stated in 2017, that “the EU and its Member States will also support efficient, sustainable and equitable social protection systems to guarantee basic income” in order to combat inequality.’

(2)

An annex on the subject matter, objectives and background to the proposed European citizens’ initiative contains the four criteria which would define the proposed ‘Unconditional Basic Income’: it should be ‘universal’, ‘individual’, ‘unconditional’ and ‘high enough’.

(3)

The Treaty on European Union reinforces citizenship of the Union and enhances further the democratic functioning of the Union by providing, inter alia, that every citizen is to have the right to participate in the democratic life of the Union by way of a European citizens’ initiative.

(4)

To this end, the procedures and conditions required for the citizens’ initiative should be clear, simple, user-friendly and proportionate to the nature of the citizens’ initiative so as to encourage participation by citizens and to make the Union more accessible.

(5)

The group of organisers refers to a number of provisions of the Treaties considered relevant, including Article 5 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union , which provides that the Member States are to coordinate their economic policies within the Union and that, to this end, the Council is to adopt measures, in particular broad guidelines for these policies. That provision confers competence for coordination in the economic and social fields on the Union, but does not constitute a legal basis which would allow the Commission to make a proposal for a legal act of the Union.

(6)

However, a legal act of the Union for the purpose of implementing the Treaties on ‘Unconditional Basic Incomes throughout the EU’ for all citizens, as called for in the proposed initiative, could be adopted on the basis of Article 121(2) of the Treaty. That provision enables the Commission to recommend that the Council formulate a draft for the broad guidelines of the economic policies of the Member States and of the Union and report its findings to the European Council. On the basis of the conclusion of the European Council, the Council may adopt a recommendation setting out those broad guidelines.

(7)

For these reasons, none of the parts of the proposed initiative manifestly falls outside the framework of the Commission’s powers to submit a proposal for a legal act of the Union for the purpose of implementing the Treaties in accordance with Article 6(3)(c) of Regulation (EU) 2019/788.

(8)

The group of organisers has provided appropriate evidence that it fulfils the requirements laid down in Article 5(1) and (2) of Regulation (EU) 2019/788 and has designated the contact persons in accordance with the first subparagraph of Article 5(3) of that Regulation.

(9)

The initiative is not manifestly abusive, frivolous or vexatious, nor is it manifestly contrary to the values of the Union as set out in Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union and rights enshrined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.

(10)

The proposed initiative entitled ‘Start Unconditional Basic Incomes (UBI) throughout the EU’ should therefore be registered,

(1)

The objectives of the proposed European citizens’ initiative entitled ‘Freedom to share’ are: ‘To legalise sharing – via digital networks, for personal use and non-profit purposes – of files containing works and other material protected by copyright, related rights and sui generis database rights, with a view to striking a balance between the rights of authors and other rightholders and the universal right to science and culture.’

(2)

An annex provides further details on the subject, objectives and background to the proposed citizens’ initiative. In particular, it calls for the amendment of the EU rules on content-sharing digital platforms, referring specifically to Directive (EU) 2019/790 of the European Parliament and of the Council (2). The envisaged modifications would consist of adopting ‘a legislative act providing for a waiver of copyright, related rights and sui generis database rights for natural persons sharing files via digital networks for personal use and non-profit purposes’. The goal set by the initiative is to allow citizens ‘to share files directly via peer-to-peer networks in order for them to have access to science and culture without being subject to checks and profiling’.

(3)

The Treaty on European Union (TEU) reinforces citizenship of the Union and enhances further the democratic functioning of the Union by providing, inter alia, that every citizen is to have the right to participate in the democratic life of the Union by way of a European citizens’ initiative.

(4)

To this end, the procedures and conditions required for the citizens’ initiative should be clear, simple, user-friendly and proportionate to the nature of the citizens’ initiative so as to encourage participation by citizens and to make the Union more accessible.

(5)

The proposed initiative asks for the amendment of the EU rules on content-sharing digital platforms, referring specifically to Directive (EU) 2019/790 on copyright and related rights in the Digital Single Market, which is based on Articles 53(1), 62 and 114 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).

(6)

Legal acts of the Union for the purpose of implementing the Treaties can be adopted for the coordination of the provisions laid down by law, regulation or administrative action in Member States concerning the taking-up and pursuit of activities as self-employed persons, on the basis of Article 53(1). According to Article 62 TFEU, this legal basis also applies to matters regarding the freedom to provide services as set out in Articles 56–61 TFEU.

(7)

Legal acts of the Union for the purpose of implementing the Treaties can be adopted for the approximation of the provisions laid down by law, regulation or administrative action in Member States which have as their object the establishment and functioning of the internal market, on the basis of Article 114 TFEU.

(8)

In view of Articles 53(1), 62 and 114 TFEU, none of the parts of the proposed initiative manifestly falls outside the framework of the Commission’s powers to submit a proposal for a legal act of the Union for the purpose of implementing the Treaties in accordance with Article 6(3)(c) of Regulation (EU) 2019/788.

(9)

The group of organisers has been formed and the contact persons have been designated in accordance with Article 5(1–3) of the Regulation and a legal entity has been created specifically for the purpose of managing the initiative in accordance with Article 5(7).

(10)

The proposed initiative is neither manifestly abusive, frivolous or vexatious nor manifestly contrary to the values of the Union as set out in Article 2 TEU and rights enshrined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.

(11)

The proposed initiative entitled ‘Freedom to share’ should therefore be registered,

(1)

An anti-dumping duty applies on imports into the Union of certain essential bicycle parts originating in the People’s Republic of China (‘the PRC’) as a result of the extension of the anti-dumping duty imposed on imports of bicycles originating in the PRC by Regulation (EC) No 71/97.

(2)

Under Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 71/97 the Commission is empowered to adopt the necessary measures to authorise the exemption of imports of essential bicycle parts which do not circumvent the anti-dumping duty.

(3)

Those implementing measures are set out in Regulation (EC) No 88/97 establishing the specific exemption system.

(4)

On that basis, the Commission has exempted a number of bicycle assemblers from the extended duty.

(5)

As provided for in Article 16(2) of Regulation (EC) No 88/97, the Commission has published in the Official Journal of the European Union subsequent lists of the exempted parties (5).

(6)

The most recent Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2020/588 (6) concerning exemptions under Regulation (EC) No 88/97 was adopted on 22 April 2020.

(7)

For the purposes of this Decision, the definitions set out in Article 1 of Regulation (EC) No 88/97 apply.

(8)

On 19 December 2016, the Commission received from the Dutch company VanMoof B.V. (‘VanMoof’) a request for exemption with the information required to determine whether this request was admissible in accordance with Article 4(1) of Regulation (EC) No 88/97.

(9)

In accordance with Article 5(1) of Regulation (EC) No 88/97, pending a decision on the merits of the request, the payment of the extended duty in respect of any imports of essential bicycle parts declared for free circulation by VanMoof was suspended as from the day on which the Commission received its request for exemption.

(10)

The TARIC additional code C202 was assigned to VanMoof in order to identify the imports of essential bicycle parts declared for free circulation and subject to the suspension of the payment of the extended duty.

(11)

Subsequently, VanMoof informed the Commission that in order to demonstrate compliance with the requirements set out in Article 6 of Regulation (EC) No 88/97, its recording system was adapted and improved and therefore requested to change the date of the exemption request from 19 December 2016 to 1 January 2018.

(12)

Therefore, the suspension of payment of the extended duty should be lifted for the period prior to 1 January 2018. The extended duty should be collected as from the date of receipt of the request for exemption submitted by VanMoof, namely the date on which the suspension took effect that is 19 December 2016 until 31 December 2017. Accordingly, pending a decision on the merits of the exemption request, the new date on which the suspension of the extended duty took effect was changed to 1 January 2018.

(13)

The Commission has concluded its examination of the merits of VanMoof’s exemption request.

(14)

The Commission established during its examination that the value of the parts originating in the PRC constituted less than 60 % of the total value of the parts of all the bicycles assembled by VanMoof. This was also the case for the majority of the assembled bicycles by VanMoof.

(15)

Consequently, the Commission concluded that the assembly operations of VanMoof fall outside the scope of Article 13(2) of Regulation (EU) 2016/1036. For that reason and in accordance with Article 7(1) of Regulation (EC) No 88/97, VanMoof fulfils the conditions for exemption from the extended duty.

(16)

In accordance with Article 7(2) of Regulation (EC) No 88/97, the exemptions should take effect as from the date on which the suspension of the extended duty took effect, that is 1 January 2018. The customs debts in respect of the extended duty from the parties requesting exemption should therefore be considered void from the same date.

(17)

The Commission informed VanMoof its conclusions on the merits of its exemption request and gave VanMoof an opportunity to comment. No comments were received.

(18)

Since the exemption applies only to the party specifically referred to in the table below, the exempted party should notify the Commission (7) without delay of any changes to it (for instance, a change in the name, legal form or address or the setting up of new assembly entity or the production processes). In such cases, VanMoof should provide all relevant information, in particular on any modification in its activities linked to assembly operations. Where appropriate, the Commission will update the references accordingly,

(1)

The Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Singapore (‘the Agreement’) entered into force on 21 November 2019.

(2)

Article 10.17(3) of the Agreement provides that the Parties shall, as soon as practicable after the procedures for protection of geographical indications in each Party have been concluded for all the names listed in Annex 10-A to the Agreement, meet to adopt a decision in the Trade Committee regarding the listing in Annex 10-B to the Agreement of the names from Annex 10-A of each Party that have been and remain protected as geographical indications under the respective Party’s system referred to in Article 10.17(2).

(3)

The Republic of Singapore has completed the procedure for protection in its territory of 138 names that were listed in Annex 10-A to the Agreement and were applied for protection as geographical indications of the Union.

(4)

Notwithstanding that procedures for protection in the territory of Singapore have not yet been initiated and concluded for all the names listed in Annex 10-A to the Agreement, the Parties agree to the Trade Committee adopting the present decision regarding the listing in Annex 10-B to the Agreement of the 138 names.

(5)

Consequently, Annexes 10-A and 10-B to the Agreement should be modified by listing the 138 names as protected geographical indications of the Union in Annex 10-B and removing those names from Annex 10-A,