International agreement
The
Convention on the association of the Netherlands Antilles with the European Economic Community
is an
international agreement
amending the
Treaty establishing the European Economic Community
, with the aim of awarding
OCT status
to the
Netherlands Antilles
, which was a
constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
from 1954 until 2010. A full treaty revision was needed because
Belgium
,
France
,
Germany
,
Italy
, and
Luxembourg
wanted to add a protocol on the import of refined petroleum products from the Netherlands Antilles.
[1]
Background
[
edit
]
Because the
Charter for the Kingdom of the Netherlands
, proclaimed in 1954, instituted a Kingdom in which the three parties—the
Netherlands
, the Netherlands Antilles, and
Suriname
—participated on basis of equality, the Netherlands in 1957 only negotiated the
Treaties of Rome
on behalf of itself. A special protocol attached to both the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community
[2]
and the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Economic Energy Community
[3]
specifically declared that the Kingdom was entitled to ratify the treaties for the Netherlands and
Netherlands New Guinea
only, or for the Kingdom as a whole. Both treaties were indeed subsequently ratified for the Netherlands and Netherlands New Guinea only.
[4]
A
Declaration of Intent on the association of Surinam and the Netherlands Antilles with the European Economic Community
, however, was attached to the Final Act of the
Intergovernmental Conference
for the Common Market and EURATOM:
The governments of the Kingdom of Belgium, the Federal Republic of Germany, the French Republic, the Italian Republic, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and the Kingdom of the Netherlands
,
Taking into consideration
the close ties which unite the several parts of the Kingdom of the Netherlands,
Anxious
to maintain and intensify the traditional trade flows between the Member States of the European Economic Community on the one hand and Surinam and the Netherlands Antilles on the other, and to contribute to the economic and social development of these countries,
Declare their readiness
, as soon as this Treaty enters into force, to open negotiations at the request of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, with a view to concluding conventions for the economic association of Surinam and the Netherlands Antilles with the Community.
Suriname became already associated with the European Economic Community on 1 September 1962, by virtue of a Supplementary Act completing the instrument of ratification of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
[5]
[6]
This was possible, because the protocol attached to the EEC Treaty did not oblige the Kingdom of the Netherlands to only ratify on behalf of the Netherlands and Netherlands New Guinea, but rather established that it was
entitled
to do so.
[2]
Applying the treaty to the Netherlands Antilles by Supplementary Act to the instrument of ratification turned out to be an impossibility, as the other five Member States of the Community wanted some safeguards with regard to the import of petroleum products refined in the islands,
[1]
and thus a full treaty revision according to Article 236 of the EEC Treaty had to be negotiated.
[7]
Amendments
[
edit
]
The Kingdom of the Netherlands proposed a treaty revision on 4 June 1962. This proposal was met with favourable responses from the
Commission
, the
Assembly
, and the
Council
on 10 September, 19 October, and 22 October, respectively.
[8]
An Intergovernmental Conference was convened on 13 November, which signed the convention.
The actual Convention consists of four articles, the first of which establishes that the Netherlands Antilles shall be added to the
list in Annex IV of the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community
(now
Annex II
). Article 2 adds another protocol to the EEC Treaty, named
Protocol concerning imports into the European Economic Community of petroleum products refined in the Netherlands Antilles
. Article 3 concerns the ratification and article 4 the authentic versions of the text.
Ratification
[
edit
]
The treaty entered into force on 1 October 1964, the first day of the month following the date of deposit of the last instrument of ratification by a signatory state, in this case
Italy
:
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
Paul Joan George Kapteyn
and
Pieter verLoren van Themaat
-
Het recht van de Europese Unie en van de Europese Gemeenschappen
, page 66.
- ^
a
b
TREATY ESTABLISHING THE EEC - PROTOCOL ON THE APPLICATION OF THE TREATY ESTABLISHING THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY TO THE NON-EUROPEAN PARTS OF THE KINGDOM OF THE NETHERLANDS
The High Contracting Parties
,
Anxious
, at the time of signature of the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, to define the scope of the provisions of Article 227 of this Treaty in respect of the Kingdom of the Netherlands,
Have agreed
upon the following provisions, which shall be annexed to this Treaty:
The Government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, by reason of the constitutional structure of the Kingdom resulting from the Statute of 29 December 1954, shall, by way of derogation from Article 227, be entitled to ratify the Treaty on behalf of the Kingdom in Europe and Netherlands New Guinea only.
Done at Rome this twenty-fifth day of March in the year one thousand nine hundred and fifty-seven.
Treaty establishing the European Economic Community and connected documents
- ^
TREATY ESTABLISHING THE EAEC -? PROTOCOL ON THE APPLICATION OF THE TREATY TO THE NON-EUROPEAN PARTS OF THE KINGDOM OF THE NETHERLANDS
The High Contracting Parties
,
Anxious
, at the time of signature of the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community, to define the scope of the provisions of Article 198 of this Treaty in respect of the Kingdom of the Netherlands,
Have agreed
upon the following provisions, which shall be annexed to this Treaty:
The Government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, by reason of the constitutional structure of the Kingdom resulting from the Statute of 29 December 1954, shall, by way of derogation from Article 198, be entitled to ratify this Treaty either on behalf of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in its entirety or on behalf of the Kingdom in Europe and Netherlands New Guinea. In the event of ratification being limited to the Kingdom in Europe and Netherlands New Guinea, the Government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands may at any time, by notification to the Government of the Italian Republic as depositary of the instruments of ratification, declare this Treaty also applicable either to Surinam, or to the Netherlands Antilles, or to both Surinam and the Netherlands Antilles.
Done at Rome this twenty-fifth day of March in the year one thousand nine hundred and fifty-seven.
Treaty establishing the EAEC
- ^
Ratification Act for the EEC Treaty
,
Act ratifying the EAEC Treaty in the Netherlands (5 December 1957)
- ^
Raad van State van het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden (February 2004),
Verdieping of geleidelijk uiteengaan? De relaties binnen het Koninkrijk en met de Europese Unie
(PDF)
, p. 29
, retrieved
2010-10-26
,
Op 14 augustus 1962 heeft het Koninkrijk ten behoeve van Suriname een aanvullende akte van bekrachtiging gedeponeerd, nadat bij rijkswet de goedkeuring voor Suriname was verleend. Juridisch gezien ging Suriname daardoor deel uitmaken van de EEG. De bedoeling was om Suriname op de lijst van Bijlage II te doen opnemen, zodat op dit destijds nog van het Koninkrijk deel uitmakende land het regime van Deel IV van het Verdrag van toepassing werd, dat wil zeggen het bijzondere associatieregime voor de LGO. En zo gebeurde het ook. Bij de onafhankelijkheid op 25 november 1975 heeft deze aanvullende akte van bekrachtiging haar betekenis verloren. Op 16 juni 1976 trad Suriname tot de ACS-Overeenkomst van Lome toe, de al in paragraaf 1, onder e, genoemde associatieovereenkomst van de EEG met de onafhankelijke staten in Afrika, het Caribisch gebied en de Stille Oceaan, tevens voormalige kolonien.
- ^
"The provisions of Part Four of the Treaty were applied to Surinam, by virtue of a Supplementary Act of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to complete its instrument of ratification, from 1 September 1962 to 16 July 1976.", in: eur-lex.europa.eu -
Treaty establishing the European Community (consolidated version) - Text of the Treaty
- ^
Belgian Chamber of Representatives -
Expose des Motif of the ratification of the Convention
Archived
2011-07-23 at the
Wayback Machine
(in French and Dutch)
- ^
Convention amending the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, with a view to making applicable to the Netherlands Antilles the special regime of association defined in part IV of the said Treaty -
Final Act
- ^
Verdragenbank Minbuza
[
permanent dead link
]
and
Official copy at the UN, page 303 (page 314 in the PDF)
External links
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