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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 Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and New Zealand (‘the Agreement’)note was concluded by the Union by means of Council Decision (EU) 2024/244note and entered into force on 1 May 2024.
(2)Pursuant to Article 24.2(2), point (i), of the Agreement, the Trade Committee established by Article 24.1(1) of the Agreement is able to adopt decisions to amend the Agreement. Pursuant to Article 24.3, point (j), of the Agreement, the Trade Committee is able to adopt decisions to amend Article 19.3(3) and (4) of the Agreement, which concern multilateral labour standards and agreements.
(3)Pursuant to Article 19.3(4) of the Agreement, the Trade Committee is able to adopt, no later than at its first meeting, a decision to amend Article 19.3(3) of the Agreement to reflect the inclusion of a safe and healthy working environment in the framework of fundamental principles and rights at work of the International Labour Organization (ILO).
(4)The Trade Committee, during its first meeting, is to adopt a decision to amend Article 19.3(3) of the Agreement in order to add a safe and healthy working environment to the list of fundamental principles and rights at work in that Article in line with Resolution Inote adopted on 10 June 2022 by the 110th International Labour Conference. The reference to the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work in Article 19.3(3) of the Agreement should also be updated in order to align it with the most recent amendment to that Declaration.
(5)Following the amendment to be made to Article 19.3(3) of the Agreement, the statement in the footnote to Article 19.3(5) that all Member States have ratified the fundamental conventions of the ILO will become obsolete. It is therefore appropriate to delete that footnote.
(6)It is appropriate to establish the position to be taken on the Union’s behalf within the Trade Committee, as the decision of the Trade Committee as regards amendments to the Agreement concerning fundamental principles and rights at work will be binding on the Union.
(7)The position of the Union within the Trade Committee should therefore be to support the adoption of the attached draft decision of the Trade Committee,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:
Article 1#
The position to be taken on the Union’s behalf at the first meeting of the Trade Committee established by Article 24.1(1) of the Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and New Zealand shall be based on the draft Decision of the Trade Committee attached to this Decision.
Article 19.3 of the Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and New Zealand (the ‘Agreement’) is amended as follows:
(1)paragraph 3 is amended as follows:
(a)the introductory wording is replaced by the following:‘In accordance with the ILO Constitution and the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work adopted at Geneva on 18 June 1998 by the International Labour Conference at its 86th Session and its Follow-up, as amended at its 110th Session in 2022, each Party shall respect, promote and realise the principles concerning the fundamental rights at work which are the subject of the fundamental conventions of the ILO, namely:’;
(b)in point (c), after the words ‘the effective abolition of child labour;’, the word ‘and’ is deleted;
(c)in point (d), after the words ‘the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation’, the full stop is deleted and the following is added:‘; and’;
(d)the following point is added:
(e)a safe and healthy working environment’;
(2)in paragraph 5, footnote 1 (‘The Parties note that all Member States have ratified the fundamental conventions of the ILO.’) is deleted.
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