Judgment_paragraph 38 · European Commission v Council of the European Union (C-377/12)

38For the purpose of establishing whether certain provisions of a cooperation agreement concluded between the European Community and a third State did indeed fall within development cooperation policy, the Court found in paragraphs 37 and 38 of Portugal v Council EU:C:1996:461, a judgment relied upon by the Commission, that, in order to qualify as a development cooperation agreement, an agreement must pursue the objectives of that policy, that those are broad objectives in the sense that it must be possible for the measures required for their pursuit to concern a variety of specific matters, and that that is so in particular in the case of an agreement establishing the framework of such cooperation. It added that to require a development cooperation agreement to be based on another provision as well as on the provision relating to that policy whenever the agreement touches on a specific matter would in practice amount to rendering devoid of substance the competence and procedure prescribed in the latter provision.