xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Articles 46, 53 and 62, in conjunction with Article 218(9) thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,
Whereas:
(1) The Agreement between the European Community and its Member States, of the one part, and the Swiss Confederation, of the other, on the free movement of persons(1) (‘the Agreement’) was signed on 21 June 1999 and entered into force on 1 June 2002.
(2) Pursuant to Article 18 of the Agreement, amendments to Annex III (Mutual recognition of professional qualifications) thereto are to be adopted by decision of the Joint Committee established under Article 14 of the Agreement (‘the Joint Committee’).
(3) In order to maintain the consistent and correct application of legal acts of the Union and to avoid administrative, and possibly legal, difficulties, Annex III (Mutual recognition of professional qualifications) to the Agreement should be amended to take account of new legal acts of the Union to which the Agreement does not currently refer.
(4) It is appropriate to establish the position to be taken on behalf of the Union within the Joint Committee as regards the amendment of Annex III (Mutual recognition of professional qualifications) to the Agreement.
(5) The position of the Union within the Joint Committee should therefore be based on the attached draft Decision,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION: