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Council Decision (EU) 2018/4

of 18 December 2017

on the position to be adopted, on behalf of the European Union, within the EEA Joint Committee concerning amending the rules of procedure of the EEA Joint Committee

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 217 thereof,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 2894/94 of 28 November 1994 concerning arrangements for implementing the Agreement on the European Economic Area(1), and in particular the first indent of point (b) of Article 1(3) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,

Whereas:

(1) The Agreement on the European Economic Area(2) (‘the EEA Agreement’) entered into force on 1 January 1994.

(2) The Agreement on the participation of the Republic of Bulgaria and Romania in the European Economic Area(3), signed on 25 July 2007, amended Article 129(1) of the EEA Agreement to add Bulgarian and Romanian to the list of languages of the EEA Agreement.

(3) The Agreement on the participation of the Republic of Croatia in the European Economic Area(4) (‘the 2014 EEA Enlargement Agreement’), signed on 11 April 2014, amended Article 129(1) of the EEA Agreement to add Croatian to the list of languages of the EEA Agreement.

(4) The rules of procedure of the EEA Joint Committee, which were adopted by Decision of the EEA Joint Committee No 1/94 of 8 February 1994(5) and amended by Decision of the EEA Joint Committee No 24/2005 of 8 February 2005(6), should therefore be amended accordingly.

(5) The 2014 EEA Enlargement Agreement has been provisionally applicable to its signatories since 12 April 2014, and the corresponding Decision of the EEA Joint Committee should therefore apply provisionally pending the entry into force of the 2014 EEA Enlargement Agreement.

(6) The position of the Union within the EEA Joint Committee should therefore be based on the attached draft decisions,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION: