Regulation (EU) 2017/354 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 February 2017 amending Regulation (EU) 2015/936 on common rules for imports of textile products from certain third countries not covered by bilateral agreements, protocols or other arrangements, or by other specific Union import rules

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 207(2) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,

After transmission of the draft legislative act to the national parliaments,

Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure (1),

Whereas:

(1) Regulation (EU) 2015/936 of the European Parliament and of the Council (2) lays down the common rules for imports of textile products from certain third countries not covered by bilateral agreements, protocols or other arrangements, or by other specific Union import rules.

(2) The release of political prisoners in the Republic of Belarus on 22 August 2015 was an important step which, together with several positive initiatives undertaken by the Republic of Belarus over the last 2 years, such as resumption of the EU-Belarus Human Rights Dialogue, contributed to the improvement of relations between the Union and the Republic of Belarus.

(3) EU-Belarus relations should be based on common values, in particular with regard to human rights, democracy and the rule of law, and it should be recalled that the human rights situation in the Republic of Belarus remains of concern to the Union, in particular with regard to issues such as the death penalty, which should be abolished.

(4) Those positive political developments between the Union and the Republic of Belarus should be recognised and bilateral relations further improved. Accordingly, this Regulation should repeal the autonomous quotas on imports of textiles and clothing originating in the Republic of Belarus, provided for in Annexes II and III to Regulation (EU) 2015/936, without prejudice to the Union’s ability to have recourse to quotas in the future should the human rights situation in the Republic of Belarus seriously deteriorate.

(5) The removal of autonomous quotas on imports of textiles and clothing originating in the Republic of Belarus implies that the quotas on outward processing traffic are no longer necessary. As a result, Article 4(2) and Chapter V of Regulation (EU) 2015/936, together with Annex V thereto should be deleted. Article 31 of that Regulation concerning the adoption of delegated acts should also be amended accordingly. The limited use of autonomous and outward processing quotas on imports of textiles and clothing originating in the Republic of Belarus implies that the removal of those quotas would have a limited impact on Union trade.

(6) In order to correct erroneous Combined Nomenclature codes in categories 12, 13, 18, 68, 78, 83 (Group II B), 67, 70, 94, 96 (Group III B) and 161 (Group V), Annex I to Regulation (EU) 2015/936 should be amended.

(7) The official name of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea should be used in Annexes II, III and IV to Regulation (EU) 2015/936.

(8) In order to facilitate administrative procedures, the period of validity of import authorisations laid down in in Article 21(2) of Regulation (EU) 2015/936 should be increased from 6 to 9 months,

HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Regulation (EU) 2015/936 is amended as follows:

(1) Article 4(2) is deleted.

(2) Article 21(2) is replaced by the following: ‘2.   The period of validity of import authorisations issued by the competent authorities of the Member States shall be 9 months. That period of validity may be modified where necessary, in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 30(3).’.

(3) Chapter V is deleted.

(4) Article 31(2) and (3) are replaced by the following: ‘2.   The power to adopt delegated acts referred to in Article 3(3), Article 5(2), Article 12(3), Article 13 and Article 35 shall be conferred on the Commission for a period of 5 years from 20 February 2014. The Commission shall draw up a report in respect of the delegation of power not later than 9 months before the end of the 5-year period. The delegation of power shall be tacitly extended for periods of an identical duration, unless the European Parliament or the Council opposes such extension not later than 3 months before the end of each period.

(5) Article 31(6) is replaced by the following: ‘6.   A delegated act adopted pursuant to Article 3(3) or Article 12(3) shall enter into force only if no objection has been expressed either by the European Parliament or the Council within a period of 2 months of notification of that act to the European Parliament and the Council or if, before the expiry of that period, the European Parliament and the Council have both informed the Commission that they will not object. That period shall be extended by 4 months at the initiative of the European Parliament or of the Council.’.

(6) Section A of Annex I is amended in accordance with the Annex to this Regulation and Annexes II, III and IV are replaced by texts set out in the Annex to this Regulation.

(7) Annex V is deleted.

Article 2

This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Strasbourg, 15 February 2017.

For the European Parliament The President A. TAJANI

For the Council The President I. BORG

(1) Position of the European Parliament of 19 January 2017 (not yet published in the Official Journal) and decision of the Council of 7 February 2017.

(2) Regulation (EU) 2015/936 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 June 2015 on common rules for imports of textile products from certain third countries not covered by bilateral agreements, protocols or other arrangements, or by other specific Union import rules (OJ L 160, 25.6.2015, p. 1).