(9)In the same declaration, the Union, its Member States, Croatia and Iceland also stated, in line with Article 4(1) of the Kyoto Protocol which allows parties to fulfil their commitments under Article 3 of the Kyoto Protocol jointly, that Article 3(7 ter) of the Kyoto Protocol will be applied to the joint assigned amount pursuant to the agreement on joint fulfilment by the Union, its Member States, Croatia and Iceland and will not be applied to any Member State, Croatia or Iceland individually. The Council, at its meeting on 15 December 2009, welcomed a request by Iceland to fulfil its commitments under a second commitment period jointly with the Union and its Member States and invited the Commission to present a recommendation for the opening of the necessary negotiations on an agreement with Iceland that is in line with the principles and criteria set out in the Union's climate and energy package. The Agreement between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part, and Iceland, of the other part, concerning Iceland's participation in the joint fulfilment of the commitments of the European Union, its Member States and Iceland for the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Changenote (the ‘Agreement with Iceland’) sets out the terms of that participation.