EU/China Agreement: modification of concessions in the schedule of Croatia in the course of its accession to the European Union

The European Parliament adopted by 590 votes to 41, with 35 abstentions, a legislative resolution on the draft Council decision on the conclusion of the Agreement, on behalf of the European Parliament, of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) 1994 relating to the modification of concessions in the schedule of Croatia in the course of its accession to the European Union.

The European Parliament gave its consent to the conclusion of the agreement.

Parliament stated that China has the right to have its previous trading rights restored, following its slight erosion due to the enlargement of the EU customs union with Croatian EU accession.

This agreement responds to the need to: (i) increase tariff rate quotas, and (ii) lower the current bound tariff rates as the instruments of compensation for Chinese products involved as the way of compensating losses.