Council Decision (EU) 2015/1294 of 20 July 2015 on the conclusion, on behalf of the European Union and its Member States, of the Additional Protocol to the Agreement on Trade, Development and Cooperation between the European Community and its Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of South Africa, of the other part, to take account of the accession of the Republic of Croatia to the European Union

What it is

to conclude the Additional Protocol to the Trade, Development and Cooperation Agreement between the European Community and its Member States, of the one part, and South Africa, of the other part, to take account of the accession of Croatia to the European Union. ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: Council may adopt the act only if Parliament has given its consent to the act. BACKGROUND: on 24 September 2012, the Council authorised the Commission to open negotiations with South Africa in order to conclude an Additional Protocol to the Trade, Development and Cooperation Agreement between the European Community and its Member States, of the one part, and South Africa, of the other part, to take account of the accession of Croatia to the European Union. Those negotiations were successfully completed on 19 May 2014. BACKGROUND: in accordance with a Council Decision, the Additional Protocol to the Agreement on Trade, Development and Cooperation between the European Community and its Member States, of the one part, and South Africa, of the other part, to take account of the accession of Croatia to the European Union has been signed, subject to its conclusion. It is now necessary for the Protocol to be approved on behalf of the European Union. CONTENT: under this proposed Decision, the Council is called upon to conclude, on behalf of the European Union and its Member States, the Additional Protocol to the Trade, Development and Cooperation Agreement between the European Community and its Member States, of the one part, and South Africa, of the other part, to take account of the accession of Croatia to the European Union. For further details of the other main provisions of the Protocol, please refer to the Commission initial legislative proposal dated 13/08/2014 . The Committee on Development adopted the report by Davor Ivo STIER (EPP, HR) on the draft Council decision on the conclusion, on behalf of the European Union and its Member States, of the Additional Protocol to the Agreement on Trade, Development and Cooperation between the European Community and its Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of South Africa, of the other part, to take account of the accession of the Republic of Croatia to the European Union. The committee recommended that Parliament give its consent to the conclusion of the Protocol. The Trade, Development and Cooperation Agreement (TDCA) between the EU and its Member States, on the one part, and the Republic of South Africa, on the other part, was signed in Pretoria on 11 October 1999 and entered into force on 1 May 2004. It was revised in Kleinmond (South Africa) on 11 September 2009. On 1 July 2013, the Republic of Croatia acceded to the EU and became its 28th Member State. The proposed Council decision aims to approve the Additional Protocol to the EU-South Africa TDCA taking account of Croatia's accession to the EU. The Additional Protocol only aims to make, into the TDCA, the few technical and linguistic adaptations that Croatia's accession to the EU necessitates. The European Parliament adopted by 623 votes to 29 with 41 abstentions, a legislative resolution on the draft Council decision on the…

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