COUNCIL DECISION (EU) 2023/663

of 20 March 2023

establishing the position to be taken on behalf of the European Union within the WTO Committee on Government Procurement on the accession of the Republic of North Macedonia to the WTO Revised Agreement on Government Procurement

(Text with EEA relevance)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 207(4), first subparagraph, in conjunction with Article 218(9) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,

Whereas:

(1) On 17 March 2017, the Republic of North Macedonia (‘North Macedonia’) applied for accession to the World Trade Organization (‘WTO’) Revised Agreement on Government Procurement (‘Revised GPA’), which entered into force on 6 April 2014.

(2) The commitments of North Macedonia on coverage are laid down in its final offer, as submitted to the Parties to the Revised GPA (‘the Parties’) on 13 September 2022 and corrected on 27 September 2022.

(3) The final offer of North Macedonia is satisfactory and does not require the introduction of specific reservations with respect to North Macedonia. The terms of the accession of North Macedonia to the Revised GPA, as reflected in the Annex to this Decision, will be taken on board in the decision to be adopted by the Committee on Government Procurement of the WTO (‘GPA Committee’) on the accession of North Macedonia.

(4) Article XXII:2 of the Revised GPA provides that any Member of the WTO may accede to the Revised GPA on terms to be agreed between that Member and the Parties, with such terms stated in a decision of the GPA Committee.

(5) The accession of North Macedonia to the Revised GPA is expected to make a positive contribution to further the international opening of public procurement markets.

(6) It is appropriate to establish the position to be taken on the Union’s behalf in the GPA Committee in relation to the accession of North Macedonia to the Revised GPA,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

The position to be taken on the Union’s behalf within the Committee on Government Procurement of the World Trade Organization (‘WTO’) shall be to approve the accession of the Republic of North Macedonia (‘North Macedonia’) to the WTO Revised Agreement on Government Procurement (‘Revised GPA’), subject to the modifications to the European Union’s schedule following the accession of North Macedonia to the Revised GPA as set out in the Annex to this Decision.

Article 2

This Decision shall enter into force on the day of its adoption.

Done at Brussels, 20 March 2023.

For the Council

The President

P. KULLGREN

ANNEX

MODIFICATIONS TO THE EU SCHEDULE FOLLOWING THE ACCESSION OF THE REPUBLIC OF NORTH MACEDONIA TO THE WTO REVISED AGREEMENT ON GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT

Upon the accession of the Republic of North Macedonia (‘North Macedonia’) to the Revised Agreement on Government Procurement (‘Revised GPA’), point 1 of Section 2 (“The Central Government contracting authorities of EU Member States”) of Annex 1 to Appendix I to the Revised GPA for the European Union shall read as follows:

‘1.

For the goods, services, suppliers and service providers of Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Iceland, Norway, the Netherlands with respect to Aruba, the United Kingdom and North Macedonia, procurement by all central government contracting authorities of EU member States. The list below is indicative.’.

Upon the accession of North Macedonia to the Revised GPA, Section 2 of Annex 6 to Appendix I for the European Union shall read as follows:

‘2.

Works concessions contracts, when awarded by Annex 1 and 2 entities, are included under the national treatment regime for the construction service providers of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, the Netherlands on behalf of Aruba, Switzerland, Montenegro, the United Kingdom and North Macedonia, provided their value equals or exceeds 5 000 000 SDR and for the construction service providers of Korea; provided their value equals or exceeds 15 000 000 SDR.’.