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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 Article 207(4), first subparagraph, in conjunction with Article 218(9) thereof,Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,Whereas:
(1)The Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization (‘the WTO Agreement’) was concluded by the Union by means of Council Decision 94/800/ECnote and entered into force on 1 January 1995.
(2)Pursuant to Articles IV:1 and IX:1 of the WTO Agreement, the Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (‘WTO’) has the authority to adopt decisions by consensus.
(3)The WTO Ministerial Conference, during its 13th meeting from 26 to 29 February 2024, may adopt a decision on the accession of Timor-Leste to the WTO.
(4)It is appropriate to establish the position to be taken on the Union’s behalf in the 13th meeting of the WTO Ministerial Conference, as the decisions are binding on the Union.
(5)Negotiations for the accession of Timor-Leste to the WTO started in 2016. The Working Party on the accession of Timor-Leste (the ‘Working Party’) was established on 7 December 2016. The sixth meeting of the Working Party took place on 11 October 2023.
(6)The multilateral negotiations on additional trade-related areas are still ongoing. In March 2023, the Commission, on behalf of the Union, finalised bilateral negotiations on a comprehensive series of market opening commitments on the part of Timor-Leste.
(7)Accession to the WTO is expected to make a positive and lasting contribution to the process of economic reform and sustainable development in Timor-Leste. The Union should therefore support the accession of Timor-Leste,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:
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