Regulation (EU) 2026/687

Contents

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 procedure^note,Whereas:

(1)The EU-Mercosur Partnership Agreement (the ‘EMPA’) and the EU-Mercosur Interim Trade Agreement (the ‘ITA’) grant to products originating in or destined for Mercosur countries preferential treatment and include bilateral safeguard clauses for the temporary withdrawal of tariff preferences. The specificities of some agricultural products subject to those Agreements (the ‘Agreements’), as well as the vulnerable situation of the Union’s outermost regions as referred to in Article 349 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) require ad hoc provisions.

(2)The EMPA and the ITA aim to protect Union producers of sensitive products in the agriculture sector by limiting preferences to tariff rate quotas.

(3)The Union maintains its right to take global safeguard measures in accordance with the WTO Agreement on Safeguards and the EMPA and the ITA.

(4)The Union is determined to make swift and effective use of the bilateral safeguard clauses to counteract possible negative impacts of the tariff reductions pursuant to the EMPA and the ITA, including for products whose market access is constrained by the limits contained in tariff rate quotas.

(5)It is necessary to lay down procedures to guarantee the effective implementation of the bilateral safeguard clauses for agricultural products.

(6)A delay in applying justified safeguard measures could lead to injury to Union farmers in one or more Member States that could be difficult to remedy.

(7)It is therefore appropriate to lay down specific procedures in line with the Agreements to guarantee a timely implementation of the bilateral safeguard clauses in the EMPA and the ITA as regards certain sensitive agricultural products.

(8)Safeguard measures are only to be considered where the product in question is imported into the Union in such increased quantities, in absolute terms or relative to Union production, and under such conditions as to cause or threaten to cause serious injury to Union producers of like or directly competitive products. Safeguard measures should take one of the forms referred to in the Agreements.

(9)The follow-up to and review of the EMPA and the ITA, the conduct of investigations and, where appropriate, the imposition of safeguard measures should be carried out in the most transparent manner possible.

(10)Member States should inform the Commission of any trends in imports which might call for the imposition of safeguard measures.

(11)The reliability of statistics relating to all imports from the countries concerned to the Union is crucial when determining whether the conditions for the imposition of safeguard measures are met.

(12)The close monitoring of any sensitive products should facilitate timely decisions concerning the possible initiation of investigations and the subsequent imposition of safeguard measures. Therefore, the Commission should constantly and proactively monitor imports of any sensitive products from the date of entry into force of the EMPA or the ITA. Monitoring should be extended to other products or sectors if the relevant Union industry makes a duly justified request to the Commission. The Commission should present a monitoring report at least every six months, containing its assessment of the impact of imports of sensitive products benefitting from preferential market access under the Agreements, including data on import volumes and prices for all sensitive products.

(13)It is also necessary to set time limits for the initiation of investigations and for determinations as to whether safeguard measures are appropriate, with a view to ensuring that such determinations are made quickly, thereby increasing legal certainty for the economic operators concerned.

(14)In critical circumstances, the Commission should swiftly impose provisional safeguard measures.

(15)Safeguard measures should be applied only to the extent, and for such time as, necessary to prevent serious injury and to facilitate adjustment. The maximum duration of safeguard measures should be determined, and specific provisions regarding the extension and review of such measures should be laid down.

(16)In order to amend the Annex to this Regulation, the power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 TFEU should be delegated to the Commission in respect of amending the list of sensitive products. It is of particular importance that the Commission carry out appropriate consultations during its preparatory work, including at expert level, and that those consultations be conducted in accordance with the principles laid down in the Interinstitutional Agreement of 13 April 2016 on Better Law-Making^note. In particular, to ensure equal participation in the preparation of delegated acts, the European Parliament and the Council receive all documents at the same time as Member States’ experts, and their experts systematically have access to meetings of Commission expert groups dealing with the preparation of delegated acts.

(17)The implementation of the bilateral safeguard clauses and the putting in place of transparent criteria for the temporary suspension of tariff preferences provided for in the Agreements require uniform conditions for the adoption of provisional and definitive safeguard measures, the imposition of prior surveillance measures, the termination of an investigation without measures, and the temporary suspension of the tariff preferences.

(18)In order to ensure uniform conditions for the implementation of this Regulation, implementing powers should be conferred on the Commission. Those powers should be exercised in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council^note.

(19)The advisory procedure should be used for the adoption of prior surveillance measures and provisional safeguard measures, given the effects of those measures and their sequential logic in relation to the adoption of definitive safeguard measures. The examination procedure should apply to the imposition of definitive safeguard measures and for the review of such measures.

(20)The Commission should adopt immediately applicable implementing acts where imperative grounds of urgency so require if, in duly justified cases, a delay in the imposition of provisional safeguard measures would cause damage which would be difficult to repair or in order to prevent a negative impact on the Union market as a result of an increase in imports.

(21)Provision should be made for the treatment of confidential information so that business secrets are not disclosed.

(22)The Commission should submit an annual report to the European Parliament and to the Council on the application of the safeguard measures,

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