EC/China Agreement on maritime transportation: Protocol following the 2004 enlargement

PURPOSE : to conclude a Protocol amending the Agreement on Maritime Transport between the European Community the People's Republic of China to take account of the accession of the 10 new Member States.

PROPOSED ACT : Council Decision.

CONTENT : ten new Member States acceded to the European Union on 1 May 2004. Under Article 6(2) of the Act of Accession, the accession of the new Member States to the Agreement on maritime transport between the European Community and its Member States and the People's Republic of China, signed in Brussels on 6 December 2002, shall be agreed by the conclusion of a Protocol amending this Agreement.

Article 6(2) provides for a simplified procedure, as this Protocol is to be concluded by the Council of the European Union, acting unanimously on behalf of the Member States, and China.

Consequently, the Commission has negotiated this Protocol on behalf of the European Community and its Member States on the basis of negotiation directives adopted by the Council on 21 June 2004, and in consultation with a committee of the representatives of the Member States. The draft Protocol was initialled by the Commission and the Chinese representatives in Brussels on 24 September 2004.

The Protocol provides for the necessary technical and linguistic adaptations of the Agreement that ensue from the accession of the ten new contracting parties.