Convention on the association of the Netherlands Antilles with the European Economic Community

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]

Convention on the association of the Netherlands Antilles with the European Economic Community
TypeAmends the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community
Signed13 November 1962
LocationBrussels, Belgium
Effective1 October 1964
SignatoriesThe Six
DepositaryGovernment of Italy
LanguagesDutch, French, German, Italian
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 at Wikisource

Background

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

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

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:

Signatory Date of deposit of the instrument of ratification[9]
 Netherlands2 July 1963
 France10 January 1964
 Belgium12 March 1964
 Luxembourg22 March 1964
 Germany21 April 1964
 Italy14 September 1964

References
  1. Paul Joan George Kapteyn and Pieter verLoren van Themaat - Het recht van de Europese Unie en van de Europese Gemeenschappen, page 66.
  2. 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
  3. 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
  4. Ratification Act for the EEC Treaty, Act ratifying the EAEC Treaty in the Netherlands (5 December 1957)
  5. 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 Lomé 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 koloniën.
  6. "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
  7. Belgian Chamber of Representatives - Exposé des Motif of the ratification of the Convention Archived 2011-07-23 at the Wayback Machine (in French and Dutch)
  8. 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
  9. Verdragenbank Minbuza and Official copy at the UN, page 303 (page 314 in the PDF)
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