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Document 52012PC0603
COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT pursuant to Article 294(6) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union concerning the position of the Council on the adoption of a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing transitional arrangements for bilateral investment agreements between Member States and third countries
COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT pursuant to Article 294(6) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union concerning the position of the Council on the adoption of a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing transitional arrangements for bilateral investment agreements between Member States and third countries
COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT pursuant to Article 294(6) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union concerning the position of the Council on the adoption of a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing transitional arrangements for bilateral investment agreements between Member States and third countries
/* COM/2012/0603 final - 2010/0197 (COD) */
COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT pursuant to Article 294(6) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union concerning the position of the Council on the adoption of a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing transitional arrangements for bilateral investment agreements between Member States and third countries /* COM/2012/0603 final - 2010/0197 (COD) */
2010/0197 (COD) COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION
TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
pursuant to Article 294(6) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European
Union
concerning the position of the Council on the adoption of
a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing
transitional arrangements for bilateral investment agreements between Member States and third countries 1. Background Date of transmission of the proposal to the European Parliament and to the Council (document COM(2010)344final – 2010/0197 COD): || 7/07/2010 Date of the position of the European Parliament, first reading: || 10/05/2011 Date of adoption of the position of the Council: || 4/10/2012 2. Objective
of the proposal from the Commission The Lisbon Treaty established the Union's exclusive competence on foreign direct investment, as part of the common commercial
policy. In accordance with Article 2 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European
Union (TFEU), only the Union may legislate and adopt legally binding acts in an
area where exclusive competence is conferred upon the Union. In the absence of
a specific transitional regime in the TFEU clarifying the status of Member
States' bilateral investment agreements, the Commission's proposal for a
Regulation seeks to establish legal certainty for investors benefiting from
these agreements, by authorising the continued existence of all investment
agreements signed between Member States and third countries, as well as to
create a mechanism empowering – under certain conditions – Member States to
negotiate and conclude such agreements in the future. 3. Comments
on the position of the Council The position of the Council as adopted in
the 1st reading fully reflects the agreement reached in the trilogue between
the Council, the European Parliament and the Commission, as concluded on 29th
May 2012. The main points of this agreement are as following: –
to clarify the status
under the law of the Union of bilateral investment agreements of the Member
States signed before the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty, by confirming
that those agreements may be maintained in force (or enter into force) until
they are replaced by the investment agreement of the Union; –
to establish the conditions under which Member
States may be empowered to conclude and/or maintain in force bilateral
investment agreements signed between the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty and
the entry into force of this Regulation; –
to streamline the conditions and procedures
under which Member States may be empowered to amend or conclude bilateral
investment agreements with third countries after entry into force of the
Regulation; –
to ensure that maintainance in force of
investment agreements by Member States, or authorisation to open negotiations
or conclude bilateral investment agreements with third countries will not
prevent the negotiation or conclusion of future investment agreements by the Union; –
to confer on the Commission – with a view to
applying the Regulation – implementing powers in accordance with Regulation (EU)
No 182/2011, and to apply advisory procedure for the
adoption of authorisation decisions pursuant to the Regulation. The Commission fully supported the
agreement reached in the trilogue. 4. Declarations
The Commission accepted and subscribed to the
joint declaration of the Council, the Parliament and the Commission on the fact
that the use of comitology in the Regulation should not be considered as a
precedent for future acts on empowerment of Member States under the EU exclusive
competences, and that the choice of the advisory procedure should not be
considered as a precedent for future implementing acts under the Common
Commercial Policy. 5. Conclusion The Commission accepts the position taken
by the Council.