Compiled from an official source version. Later amendments or repeals may not be reflected; the official text prevails. · Read the official text ↗
A Stabilisation and Association Council is hereby established which shall supervise the application and implementation of this Agreement. It shall meet at an appropriate level at regular intervals and when circumstances require. It shall examine any major issues arising within the framework of this Agreement and any other bilateral or international issues of mutual interest.
1. The Stabilisation and Association Council shall consist of the members of the Council of the European Union and members of the Commission of the European Communities, on the one hand, and of members of the Government of Croatia, on the other. 2. The Stabilisation and Association Council shall establish its rules of procedure. 3. The members of the Stabilisation and Association Council may arrange to be represented, in accordance with the conditions to be laid down in its rules of procedure. 4. The Stabilisation and Association Council shall be chaired in turn by a representative of the European Community and a representative of Croatia, in accordance with the provisions to be laid down in its rules of procedure. 5. In matters that concern it, the European Investment Bank shall take part, as an observer, in the work of the Stabilisation and Association Council.
The Stabilisation and Association Council shall, for the purpose of attaining the objectives of this Agreement, have the power to take decisions within the scope of the Agreement in the cases provided for therein. The decisions taken shall be binding on the Parties, which shall take the measures necessary to implement the decisions taken. The Stabilisation and Association Council may also make appropriate recommendations. It shall draw up its decisions and recommendations by agreement between the Parties.
Each Party shall refer to the Stabilisation and Association Council any dispute relating to the application or interpretation of this Agreement. The Stabilisation and Association Council may settle the dispute by means of a binding decision.
1. The Stabilisation and Association Council shall be assisted in the performance of its duties by a Stabilisation and Association Committee, composed of representatives of the Council of the European Union and of representatives of the Commission of the European Communities, on the one hand, and of representatives of Croatia on the other. 2. In its rules of procedure the Stabilisation and Association Council shall determine the duties of the Stabilisation and Association Committee, which shall include the preparation of meetings of the Stabilisation and Association Council, and shall determine how the Committee shall function. 3. The Stabilisation and Association Council may delegate to the Stabilisation and Association Committee any of its powers. In this event the Stabilisation and Association Committee shall take its decisions in accordance with the conditions laid down in Article 112.
The Stabilisation and Association Committee may create subcommittees.
A Stabilisation and Association Parliamentary Committee is hereby established. It shall be a forum for Members of Croatian Parliament and the European Parliament to meet and exchange views. It shall meet at intervals that it shall itself determine. The Stabilisation and Association Parliamentary Committee shall consist of members of the European Parliament, on the one hand, and of Members of the Parliament of Croatia, on the other. The Stabilisation and Association Parliamentary Committee shall establish its rules of procedure. The Stabilisation and Association Parliamentary Committee shall be chaired in turn by the European Parliament and the Parliament of Croatia, in accordance with the provisions to be laid down in its rules of procedure.
Within the scope of this Agreement, each Party undertakes to ensure that natural and legal persons of the other Party have access free of discrimination in relation to its own nationals to the competent courts and administrative organs of the Parties to defend their individual rights and their property rights.
Nothing in this Agreement shall prevent a Party from taking any measures: (a) which it considers necessary to prevent the disclosure of information contrary to its essential security interests; (b) which relate to the production of, or trade in, arms, munitions or war materials or to research, development or production indispensable for defence purposes, provided that such measures do not impair the conditions of competition in respect of products not intended for specifically military purposes; (c) which it considers essential to its own security in the event of serious internal disturbances affecting the maintenance of law and order, in time of war or serious international tension constituting threat of war or in order to carry out obligations it has accepted for the purpose of maintaining peace and international security.
1. In the fields covered by this Agreement and without prejudice to any special provisions contained therein: — the arrangements applied by Croatia in respect of the Community shall not give rise to any discrimination between the Member States, their nationals, companies or firms; — the arrangements applied by the Community in respect of Croatia shall not give rise to any discrimination between Croatian nationals, companies or firms. 2. The provisions of paragraph 1 shall be without prejudice to the right of the Parties to apply the relevant provisions of their fiscal legislation to taxpayers who are not in identical situations as regards their place of residence.
1. The Parties shall take any general or specific measures required to fulfil their obligations under this Agreement. They shall see to it that the objectives set out in this Agreement are attained. 2. If either Party considers that the other Party has failed to fulfil an obligation under this Agreement, it may take appropriate measures. Before so doing, except in cases of special urgency, it shall supply the Stabilisation and Association Council with all relevant information required for a thorough examination of the situation with a view to seeking a solution acceptable to the Parties. 3. In the selection of measures, priority must be given to those which least disturb the functioning of this Agreement. These measures shall be notified immediately to the Stabilisation and Association Council and shall be the subject of consultations within the Stabilisation and Association Council if the other Party so requests.
The Parties agree to consult promptly through appropriate channels at the request of either Party to discuss any matter concerning the interpretation or implementation of this Agreement and other relevant aspects of the relations between the Parties. The provisions of this Article shall in no way affect and are without prejudice to Articles 31, 38, 39 and 43.
This Agreement shall not, until equivalent rights for individuals and economic operators have been achieved under this Agreement, affect rights ensured to them through existing agreements binding one or more Member States, on the one hand, and Croatia, on the other.
Protocols 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 and Annexes I to VIII shall form an integral part of this Agreement.
This Agreement is concluded for an unlimited period. Either Party may denounce this Agreement by notifying the other Party. This Agreement shall terminate six months after the date of such notification.
For the purposes of this Agreement, the term ‘Parties’ shall mean the Community, or its Member States, or the Community and its Member States, in accordance with their respective powers, of the one part, and Croatia, of the other part.
This Agreement shall apply, on the one hand, to the territories in which the Treaties establishing the European Community, the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Atomic Energy Community are applied and under the conditions laid down in those Treaties, and to the territory of Croatia on the other.
The Secretary General of the Council of the European Union shall be the depository of the Agreement.
This Agreement is drawn up in duplicate in each of the official languages of the Parties, each of these texts being equally authentic.
The Parties shall approve this Agreement in accordance with their own procedures. This Agreement shall enter into force on the first day of the second month following the date on which the Parties notify each other that the procedures referred to in the first paragraph have been completed.
Interim Agreement
In the event that, pending the completion of the procedures necessary for the entry into force of this Agreement, the provisions of certain parts of this Agreement, in particular those relating to the free movement of goods as well as the relevant provisions on Transport, are put into effect by means of an Interim Agreement between the Community and Croatia, the Parties agree that, in such circumstances for the purpose of the provisions of Title IV, Articles 70 and 71 of this Agreement, Protocols 1 to 5 and relevant provisions of Protocol 6 hereto, the terms ‘date of entry into force of this Agreement’ mean the date of entry into force of the relevant Interim Agreement in relation to obligations contained in the abovementioned provisions.
Articles on this page are reproduced verbatim from official open data. See the attribution line.
Source: EUR-Lex (Publications Office of the EU), © European Union, reuse permitted under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU.