Proposal for a Council Decision on the signing, on behalf of the European Union, of an accession Protocol to the Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement between the European Community and its Member States, of the one part, and the Republics of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama, on the other part

The Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement (PDCA) between the European Community and its Member States, of the one part, and the Republics of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama, on the other part, was signed on 15 December 2003. The Agreement has now been ratified by all parties.

Under the terms of Article 6(2) of the Act of Accession of new Member States to the EU, the accession of the new EU Member States to the PDCA is to be agreed by means of a protocol to this Agreement. The same article provides for a simplified procedure, whereby the protocol is to be concluded by the Council, acting unanimously on behalf of the Member States, and by the third country concerned.

The 10 new Member States that joined the EU in 2004 — the Czech Republic, the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Cyprus, Hungary, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Malta, the Republic of Poland, the Republic of Slovenia, and the Slovak Republic — and the Republic of Bulgaria and Romania that joined in 2007, are to accede to the PDCA by means of a protocol to the Agreement.

A Council Decision on 17 November 2009 authorised the Commission to open negotiations with the Republics of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama, in order to conclude the relevant protocol. The text of the protocol negotiated with the Central American partners is attached. The most important provision of the protocol concerns the accession of the new Member States to the PDCA and provides for authentic versions of the Agreement in the new official languages of the EU.

• Primary Source

EUR-Lex: COM(2012)455: Follow the progress of this document through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2012:455:FIN

European Commission: COM(2012)454: Proposal for a Council Decision on the conclusion of the Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement with the Republics of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2012:0454:FIN:EN:PDF

ESO: Background information: Relations between Nicargua and the European Union http://www.europeansources.info/record/relations-between-nicargua-and-the-european-union/

ESO: Background information: Relations between Guatemala and the European Union http://www.europeansources.info/record/relations-between-guatemala-and-the-european-union/

ESO: Background information: Relations between Honduras and the European Union http://www.europeansources.info/record/relations-between-honduras-and-the-european-union/

ESO: Background information: Relations between the European Union and Costa Rica http://www.europeansources.info/record/relations-between-the-european-union-and-costa-rica/

ESO: Background information: Relations between El Salvador and the European Union http://www.europeansources.info/record/relations-between-el-salvador-and-the-european-union/

ESO: Background information: Proposal for a Council Decision on the conclusion of the Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement with the Republics of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama http://www.europeansources.info/record/proposal-for-a-council-decision-on-the-conclusion-of-the-political-dialogue-and-cooperation-agreement-with-the-republics-of-costa-rica-el-salvador-guatemala-honduras-nicaragua-and-panama/

ESO: Background information: Relations between Panama and the European Union http://www.europeansources.info/record/relations-between-panama-and-the-european-union/

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