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THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 207(2) thereof,Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,After transmission of the draft legislative act to the national parliaments,Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedurenote,Whereas:
(1)Regulation (EU) 2024/823 of the European Parliament and of the Councilnote, which applies until 31 December 2025, establishes a system of autonomous trade measures (‘ATMs’) between the Union and the Western Balkan countries and territories by exempting from customs duties and charges having equivalent effect certain agricultural products originating in the Western Balkans and providing certain wine products originating in the Western Balkans with access to a global tariff quota.
(2)The current ATMs for the Western Balkans cover two remaining benefits: firstly, the suspension of the specific duties for all fruits and vegetables which are subject to the entry-price system; and, secondly, access to a global tariff quota for wine which is available on a first-come, first-served basis once the Western Balkan countries have exhausted the national quota in their respective Stabilisation and Association Agreement (‘SAA’). Despite the limited scope of the current ATMs, those ATMs remain important.
(3)The system of ATMs constitutes a valuable support for the economies of the Western Balkan partners while not creating negative effects for the Union.
(4)The Union should therefore continue supporting the vulnerable economies of the Western Balkan region by extending the period of application of Regulation (EU) 2024/823 for an additional five years. That extension demonstrates the Union’s strong commitment to the trade integration of the Western Balkans.
(5)It is therefore appropriate to extend the period of application of Regulation (EU) 2024/823 until 31 December 2030.
(6)Extending the period of application of the ATMs is consistent with Regulation (EU) 2024/1449 of the European Parliament and of the Councilnote, which established the Reform and Growth Facility for the Western Balkans.
(7)Following the entry into force of the EU-Kosovonote Stabilisation and Association Agreementnote, the last of the SAAs to enter into force, references to the fishery trade concessions in Article 3(2) of Regulation (EU) 2024/823 should be deleted as those quotas were transferred for all beneficiary parties to the respective bilateral SAAs.
(8)Article 2(3) and Article 10 of Regulation (EU) 2024/823 provide for conflicting mechanisms for the suspension of benefits and should therefore be amended, in order to create legal certainty,
HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1#
Regulation (EU) 2024/823 is amended as follows:
(1)Article 2 is amended as follows:
(a)the title is replaced by the following:‘Conditions for entitlement to, and related suspension of, the preferential arrangements’;
(b)in paragraph 1, point (c) is replaced by the following:
(c)the involvement of beneficiary parties in effective administrative cooperation with the Union, including as required for the verification of evidence of origin, in order to prevent any risk of fraud; and’
;
(c)in paragraph 2, the second subparagraph is deleted;
(d)the following paragraph is added:‘4.In the event of non-compliance by a beneficiary party with paragraph 1, point (d), of this Article, the Commission may suspend, in whole or in part, the entitlement of a beneficiary party concerned to benefits under this Regulation, pursuant to Article 6.’;
(2)in Article 3, paragraph 2 is replaced by the following:‘2.Notwithstanding other provisions of this Regulation, in particular Article 10, given the particular sensitivity of the agricultural markets, where imports of agricultural products cause serious disturbance to Union markets and their regulatory mechanisms, the Commission may adopt appropriate measures by means of implementing acts. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 8(3).’;
(3)Article 10 is amended as follows:
(a)the title is replaced by the following:‘Other temporary suspension measures’;
(b)in paragraph 1, first subparagraph, the introductory part is replaced by the following:‘1.Where the Commission finds that there is sufficient evidence of fraud or that there is a massive increase in imports into the Union above the level of normal production and export capacity, it may take measures to suspend in whole or in part the arrangements provided for in this Regulation for a period of three months, provided that it has first:’;
(4)in Article 12, the second paragraph is replaced by the following:‘It shall apply until 31 December 2030.’.
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