ECJ (Judgment) 1 Development cooperation – Conclusion by the Community of international agreements – EC-India Cooperation Agreement – Provision concerning respect for human rights – Legal basis – Article 130y of the Treaty – Whether permissible
(EC Treaty, Arts 130u(2), 130y and 235; EC-India Cooperation Agreement, Art. 1(1); Council Decision 94/578)
2 Development cooperation – Conclusion by the Community of international agreements – Agreement containing clauses relating to specific matters – Legal basis – Article 130y of the Treaty – Whether permissible – Conditions – EC-India Cooperation Agreement
(EC Treaty, Art. 130u(1) and 130y; EC-India Cooperation Agreement, Arts 7, 10, 13, 15, and 19; Council Decision 94/578)
3 So far as concerns Article 1(1) of the Agreement providing for respect for human rights and democratic principles, Decision 94/578 concerning the conclusion of the Cooperation Agreement between the European Community and the Republic of India on Partnership and Development could be validly based on Article 130y of the Treaty and did not require recourse to Article 235 as the legal basis. In that respect, the mere fact that the provision in question describes respect for human rights as an essential element of cooperation does not justify the conclusion that it goes beyond the objective stated in Article 130u(2) of the Treaty, the very wording of which demonstrates the importance to be attached to respect for human rights and democratic principles, so that development cooperation policy must be adapted to the requirement of respect for those rights and principles.
4 A development cooperation agreement concluded between the Community and a non-member country and adopted on the basis of Article 130y of the Treaty may lay down provisions on specific matters without there being any need to have recourse to other legal bases, or indeed to participation of the Member States in the conclusion of the agreement, in so far as the essential purpose of the agreement is to pursue the objectives referred to in Article 130u(1), and on condition that the clauses concerning specific matters do not impose obligations so extensive that they in fact constitute objectives distinct from those of development cooperation.
In that respect, the cooperation provided for by the Cooperation Agreement between the European Community and the Republic of India on Partnership and Development is specified – in the provisions concerning the Agreement’s objectives – in terms that take particular account of the needs of a developing country and, consequently, amongst other things, contributes to furthering the pursuit of the objectives mentioned in Article 130u(1) of the Treaty.
As regards more particularly the provisions of the Agreement which relate to specific matters concerning energy, tourism and culture (Articles 7, 13 and 15), drug abuse control (Article 19) and intellectual property (Article 10), those provisions establish the framework of cooperation between the contracting parties and are limited to determining the areas for cooperation and to specifying certain of its aspects and various actions to which special importance is attached, but do not for that reason contain anything that prescribes in concrete terms the manner in which cooperation in each specific area envisaged is to be implemented.
The mere inclusion of provisions for cooperation in a specific field does not therefore necessarily imply a general enabling power to serve as the basis of a competence to undertake any kind of cooperation action in that field, with the result that it does not predetermine the allocation of spheres of competence between the Community and the Member States or the legal basis of Community acts for implementing cooperation in such a field. From the point of view of the incorporation into the Agreement of Articles 7, 10, 13, 15 and 19, it must be concluded that it was possible for Decision 94/578 on the conclusion of the Agreement, to be validly adopted on the basis of Article 130y of the Treaty.
Citations:
C-268/94, [1996] EUECJ C-268/94
Links:
European
Updated: 03 June 2022; Ref: scu.161437
