EC/Morocco Euro-Mediterranean Association Agreement: accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the EU. Protocol

PURPOSE: to conclude a Protocol to the Euro-Mediterranean Agreement establishing an Association between the EC and their Member States and Morocco, in order to take account of the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the EU.

LEGISLATIVE ACT: Council Decision 2009/246/EC on the conclusion of a Protocol to the Euro-Mediterranean Agreement establishing an Association between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the Kingdom of Morocco, of the other part, to take account of the accession of the Republic of Bulgaria and Romania to the European Union.

CONTENT: the Euro-Mediterranean Agreement between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and Morocco, of the other part, was signed in Brussels on 26 February 1996 and came into force on 1 March 2000 (AVC/1995/0363). Following the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the EU in 2007, this Decision concludes a Protocol to the Euro-Mediterranean Agreement between the European Communities and their Member States and Morocco, to take account of the accession of the Republics of Bulgaria and Romania to the European Union. 

The text of the protocol negotiated with Morocco is attached to the Decision. The most important provisions of the protocol concern the accession of the new Member States to the EU-Morocco Agreement, the inclusion of the new official languages of the EU to take account of the EU's enlargement, and Morocco's speeding-up of the dismantling of a number of duties and taxes on products originating in the EU.

ENTRY INTO FORCE: the Protocol shall enter into force when all of the necessary procedures have been completed.