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THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular the first subparagraph of Article 207(4), in conjunction with Article 218(5) thereof,Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,Whereas:
(1)On 21 May 2003, the Commission adopted a Communication to the Council and the European Parliament ‘Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT): proposal for an EU action plan’. The Action Plan set out in that communication (‘the FLEGT Action Plan’) called for measures to address illegal logging by developing voluntary partnership agreements with timber-producing countries. Council conclusions on the action plan were adopted in October 2003note and a European Parliament resolution on the subject was adopted on 11 July 2005note.
(2)On 5 December 2005, the Council authorised the Commission to open negotiations with timber-producing countries on partnership agreements to implement the FLEGT Action Plan.
(3)On 20 December 2005, the Council adopted Regulation (EC) No 2173/2005note which established a FLEGT licensing scheme for imports of timber into the Union from countries with which the Union has concluded voluntary partnership agreements.
(4)The negotiations with the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire in view of the conclusion of a Voluntary Partnership Agreement on forest law enforcement, governance and trade in timber and timber products (‘the Agreement’), were successfully concluded by the initialling of the Agreement on 17 October 2022.
(5)The Agreement should be signed,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:
Article 1#
The signing, on behalf of the Union, of the Voluntary Partnership Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire on forest law enforcement, governance and trade in timber and timber products is hereby authorised, subject to the conclusion of the said Agreementnote.
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