5. The Cooperation Committee may meet in a specific configuration to address all issues related to Title IV. When the Cooperation Committee addresses issues related to Title IV, it shall be composed of representatives of each of the Parties with responsibility for trade-related matters.
6. The Cooperation Committee shall have the power to take decisions as provided for in this Agreement or where such power has been delegated to it by the Cooperation Council. Decisions shall be binding on the Parties. The Cooperation Committee shall take decisions and make recommendations following the completion of the Parties' respective internal procedures, as provided in their legislation. When exercising delegated powers, the Cooperation Committee shall take its decisions in accordance with the Rules of Procedure of the Cooperation Council.
Article 312. Subcommittees and other Bodies
1. The Cooperation Council may establish subcommittees or other bodies to assist in the performance of its duties and to address specific tasks or subject matters. It may change the tasks assigned to or dissolve any subcommittee or other body.
2. The Cooperation Council shall agree on the terms of reference of the subcommittees.
3. Subcommittees and other bodies shall report on their activities to the Cooperation Committee regularly or when requested.
4. Subcommittees or other bodies shall meet when requested by either Party or by the Cooperation Committee, except if otherwise agreed between the Parties.
5. The establishment or existence of any of the subcommittees and other bodies shall not prevent either Party from bringing any matter directly to the Cooperation Committee.
Article 313. Parliamentary Cooperation Committee
1. A Parliamentary Cooperation Committee is hereby established. It shall be a forum for meetings and exchange of views with the purpose of deepening and strengthening the relations of the Parties.
2. The Parliamentary Cooperation Committee shall consist of Members of the European Parliament and of the Members of the Zhogorku Kenesh of the Kyrgyz Republic.
3. The Parliamentary Cooperation Committee shall meet at intervals which it shall itself determine.
4. The Parliamentary Cooperation Committee shall establish its own rules of procedure.
5. The Parliamentary Cooperation Committee shall be chaired alternately by a representative of the European Parliament and a representative of the Zhogorku Kenesh of the Kyrgyz Republic in accordance with its rules of procedure.
6. The Parliamentary Cooperation Committee shall be informed of the decisions and recommendations of the Cooperation Council.
7. The Parliamentary Cooperation Committee may make recommendations to the Cooperation Council.
Article 314. Participation of Civil Society
With a view to informing and consulting civil society on the implementation of this Agreement as stipulated in Article 6, the Parties may establish a specific body for this purpose, in accordance with the procedure defined in Article 312.
Article 315. Territorial Application
1. This Agreement shall apply:
(a) to the territories in which the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union are applied and under the conditions laid down in those Treaties; and
(b) to the territory of the Kyrgyz Republic.
References to "territory" in this Agreement shall be understood in this sense, except as otherwise expressly provided.
References to "territory" in this Agreement shall include air space and territorial sea as provided in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea done at Montego Bay on 10 December 1982.
2. As regards provisions of this Agreement concerning customs cooperation, this Agreement shall also apply with respect to the European Union to those areas of the Union customs territory as referred to in Article 4 of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (36), not covered by point (a) of the first subparagraph of paragraph 1 of this Article.
Article 316. Fulfilment of Obligations
1. The Parties shall take any general or specific measures required to fulfil their obligations under this Agreement.
2. If either Party considers that the other Party has failed to fulfil any of the obligations under Title IV, the specific mechanisms provided for in that Title shall apply.
3. If either Party considers that the other Party has failed to fulfil any of the obligations that are described as essential elements of this Agreement in Articles 2 and 11, it may take appropriate measures. For the purpose of this paragraph, "appropriate measures" may include the suspension, in part or in full, of this Agreement.
4. If either Party considers that the other Party has failed to fulfil any of the obligations in this Agreement, save those falling within the scope of paragraphs 2 and 3, it shall notify the other Party. The Parties shall hold consultations under the auspices of the Cooperation Council with a view to reaching a mutually acceptable solution. Where the Cooperation Council is unable to reach a mutually acceptable solution, the notifying Party may take appropriate measures. For the purpose of this paragraph, "appropriate measures" may include the suspension only of Titles I, II, III, V, VI, VII.
5. Appropriate measures referred to in paragraphs 3 and 4 shall be taken in full respect of international law and shall be proportionate to the failure to fulfil obligations under this Agreement. Priority must be given to those measures which least disturb the functioning of this Agreement.
Article 317. Security Exception
Nothing in this Agreement shall be construed:
(a) to require a Party to furnish or allow access to any information the disclosure of which it considers contrary to its essential security interests; or
(b) to prevent a Party from taking an action which it considers necessary for the protection of its essential security interests:
(i) connected to the production of or traffic in arms, ammunition and implements of war and to such traffic and transactions in other goods and materials, services and technology, and to economic activities, carried out directly or indirectly for the purpose of supplying a military establishment;
(ii) relating to fissionable and fusionable materials or the materials from which they are derived; or
(iii) taken in time of war or other emergency in international relations; or
(c) to prevent a Party from taking any action in order to carry out its international obligations under the UN Charter for the purpose of maintaining international peace and security.
Article 318. Entry Into Force and Provisional Application
1. This Agreement shall enter into force on the first day of the second month following the date on which the Parties have notified each other of the completion of their respective internal procedures for that purpose.
2. Notwithstanding paragraph 1, the Parties may apply this Agreement, wholly or in part, on a provisional basis, in accordance with their respective internal procedures. Provisional application shall begin on the first day of the second month following the date on which the European Union and the Kyrgyz Republic notify each other of the following:
(a) for the European Union: the completion of the internal procedures necessary for that purpose, indicating the parts of this Agreement that shall be provisionally applied; and
(b) for the Kyrgyz Republic: the completion of the internal procedures necessary for that purpose, confirming its agreement to the parts of this Agreement that shall be provisionally applied.
3. Either Party may notify the other Party in writing of its intention to terminate the provisional application of this Agreement. The termination shall take effect on the first day of the second month following that notification.
4. For the purpose of the provisional application, the term "entry into force of this Agreement" means the date of provisional application. The Cooperation Council and other bodies established under this Agreement may exercise their functions during the provisional application of this Agreement to the extent that these functions are necessary for ensuring the provisional application of this Agreement. Any decisions adopted in the exercise of their functions shall cease to be effective if the provisional application of this Agreement is terminated in accordance with paragraph 3.
5. Where, in accordance with paragraph 2, a provision of this Agreement is applied by the Parties pending the entry into force of the Agreement, any reference in such provision to the date of entry into force of this Agreement shall be understood to refer to the date from which the Parties agree to apply that provision on a provisional basis in accordance with paragraph 2.
6. Notifications made in accordance with this Article shall be sent, for the European Union, to the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union and, for the Kyrgyz Republic, to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Article 319. Other Agreements
1. The Partnership and Cooperation Agreement establishing a partnership between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the Kyrgyz Republic, of the other part, is hereby repealed and replaced by this Agreement.
2. References to the Agreement referred to in paragraph 1 in all other agreements between the Parties shall be construed as referring to this Agreement.
3. The Parties may complement this Agreement by concluding specific agreements in any area of cooperation falling within the scope of this Agreement. Such specific agreements shall form an integral part of the overall bilateral relations as governed by this Agreement and shall be subject to a common institutional framework established by this Agreement.
Article 320. Annexes and Protocols
The Annexes, Protocols and footnotes to this Agreement shall form an integral part thereof.
Article 321. Accession of New Member States of the European Union
1. The European Union will inform the Kyrgyz Republic of any request for accession of a third country to the European Union.
2. The European Union shall notify the Kyrgyz Republic of the entry into force of any Treaty concerning the accession of a third country to the European Union (hereinafter referred to as the "Accession Treaty").
3. A new Member State of the European Union shall accede to this Agreement in accordance with the terms decided by the Cooperation Council. Save as otherwise provided in paragraph 4, the accession shall take effect from the date of accession of the new Member State to the European Union and this Agreement shall be thereby amended by a decision of the Cooperation Council establishing the terms of accession.
4. Title IV shall apply between the new Member State of the European Union and the Kyrgyz Republic from the date of accession of that new Member State to the European Union.
5. In order to facilitate the implementation of paragraph 4 of this Article, as from the date of signature of the Accession Treaty, the Cooperation Committee acting in its trade configuration shall examine any effects of the accession on this Agreement. The Cooperation Committee shall decide on necessary technical amendments to Annexes 8-A, 8-C and 9 to this Agreement, and on other necessary adjustments or transitional measures. Any decision of the Cooperation Committee shall take effect on the date of accession of the new Member State to the European Union.
Article 322. Private Rights
Nothing in this Agreement shall be construed as conferring rights or imposing obligations on persons other than those created between the Parties under public international law, nor as permitting this Agreement to be directly invoked in the domestic legal systems of the Parties.
Article 323. Public Access to Official Documents
The provisions of this Agreement shall be without prejudice to the application of the relevant legislation of the Parties regarding public access to documents.
Article 324. Duration
This Agreement is valid indefinitely.
Article 325. Termination
Either Party may notify the other Party by means of written notification delivered through diplomatic channels of its intention to terminate this Agreement. The termination shall take effect six months after the date of receipt of the notification.
Article 326. Authentic Texts
This Agreement is drawn up in duplicate in the Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Irish, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Kyrgyz and Russian languages, each text being equally authentic.
Conclusion
Attachments
ANNEX 14-A . RULES OF PROCEDURE
I. Notifications
1. Any request, notice, written submission or other document of:
(a) the panel shall be sent to the Parties at the same time;
(b) a Party which is addressed to the panel shall be copied to the other Party at the same time;
(c) a Party which is addressed to the other Party shall be copied to the panel at the same time, as appropriate.
2. Any notification referred to in rule 1 shall be made electronically or, where appropriate, by any other means of telecommunication that provides a record of the sending thereof. Unless proven otherwise, such notification shall be deemed to be delivered on the date of its sending. The paper version of the document shall be sent by post.
3. All notifications shall be addressed to the Directorate-General for Trade of the European Commission and to the Ministry of Economy of the Kyrgyz Republic. If the Parties have already appointed their representatives in the dispute, all notifications shall also be addressed to those representatives.
4. Minor errors of a clerical nature in a request, notice, written submission or other document related to the panel proceedings may be corrected by delivery of a new document clearly indicating the changes.
5. If the last day for delivery of a document falls on a non-working day of the institutions of the European Union or of the Kyrgyz Republic, the time period for the delivery of the document shall end on the next following working day.
II. Appointment of panellists
6. If pursuant to Article 213, a panellist is to be selected by lot, the co-chair of the Cooperation Committee from the complaining Party shall promptly inform the co-chair of the Cooperation Committee from the Party complained against of the date, time and venue of the lot. The Party complained against may, if it so chooses, be present during the lot. In any event, the lot shall be carried out with the Party or Parties that are present.
7. The co-chair of the Cooperation Committee from the complaining Party shall notify, in writing, each individual who has been selected to serve as a panellist of his or her appointment. Each individual shall confirm his or her availability and acceptance to the Parties within five days after the date on which he or she was informed of his or her appointment. He or she shall also confirm that he or she complies with the Code of Conduct set out in Annex 14-B.
8. The co-chair of the Cooperation Committee from the complaining Party shall select the panellist or chairperson by lot, within five days after the expiry of the time period referred to in Article 213(2), if the relevant sub-lists referred in Article 214(1):
(a) has not been established, from those individuals who have been formally proposed by one Party or both Parties for the establishment of that particular sub-list; or
(b) no longer contains at least five individuals, from those individuals who remain on that particular sub-list.
III. Organisational meeting
9. Unless the Parties agree otherwise, they shall meet the panel within seven days after its establishment in order to determine such matters that the Parties or the panel deem appropriate, including:
(a) the remuneration and expenses to be paid to the panellists;
(b) the remuneration to be paid to assistants; the total amount of the remuneration of an assistant or assistants of each panellist shall not exceed 50 % of the remuneration of that panellist;
(c) the timetable for the proceedings.
Panellists and representatives of the Parties may take part in the meeting via telephone or video conference.
IV. Written submissions
10. The complaining Party shall deliver its written submission no later than 20 days after the date of establishment of the panel. The Party complained against shall deliver its written submission no later than 20 days after the date of delivery of the written submission of the complaining Party.
V. Operation of the panel
11. The chairperson of the panel shall preside at all meetings of the panel. The panel may delegate to the chairperson the authority to make administrative and procedural decisions.
12. Unless otherwise provided in Chapter 14 or in these Rules of Procedure, the panel may conduct its activities by any means, including electronically or by telephone, or, where appropriate, by any other means of telecommunication.
13. Only panellists may take part in the deliberations of the panel, but the panel may permit panellists' assistants to be present at its deliberations.
14. The drafting of any decision or report shall remain the exclusive responsibility of the panel and shall not be delegated.
15. Where a procedural question arises that is not covered by Chapter 14 and its Annexes, the panel, after consulting the Parties, may adopt an appropriate procedure that is compatible with that Chapter and its Annexes.
16. If the panel considers that there is a need to modify any of the time periods for the proceedings other than the time periods set out in Chapter 14 or to make any other procedural or administrative adjustment, it shall, after consulting the Parties, inform them, in writing, of the reasons for the modification of the time period or other procedural or administrative adjustment.
VI. Replacement
17. If a Party considers that a panellist does not comply with the Code of Conduct set out in Annex 14-B and should for this reason be replaced, that Party shall notify the other Party within 15 days after the date at which it obtained sufficient evidence of the panellist's alleged failure to comply with the Code of Conduct set out in Annex 14-B.
18. The Parties shall consult one another within 15 days after the notification referred to in rule 17 of these Rules of Procedure. They shall inform the panellist of his or her alleged failure and they may request the panellist to take steps to remedy the failure. They may also, if they so agree, remove the panellist and select a new panellist in accordance with Article 213 of this Agreement.
19. If the Parties fail to agree on the need to replace a panellist other than the chairperson of the panel, either Party may request that the matter be referred to the chairperson of the panel, whose decision shall be final.
If the chairperson of the panel finds that a panellist does not comply with the Code of Conduct set out in Annex 14-B, a new panellist shall be selected in accordance with Article 213 of this Agreement.
20. If the Parties fail to agree on the need to replace the chairperson of the panel, either Party may request that the matter be referred to one of the remaining individuals on the sub-list of chairpersons established pursuant to Article 214. His or her name shall be drawn by lot by the co-chair of the Cooperation Committee from the requesting Party, or the co-chair's delegate. The decision of the selected individual on the need to replace the chairperson shall be final.
If the selected individual finds that the chairperson does not comply with the Code of Conduct set out in Annex 14-B, a new chairperson shall be selected in accordance with Article 213 of this Agreement.
VII. Hearings
21. In accordance with the timetable determined pursuant to rule 9, and after consulting the Parties and the other panellists, the chairperson of the panel shall notify the Parties of the date, time and venue of the hearing. This information shall be made publicly available by the Party in whose territory the hearing takes place, unless the hearing is held in closed session.
22. Unless the Parties agree otherwise, the hearing shall be held in Brussels if the complaining Party is the Kyrgyz Republic and in Bishkek if the complaining Party is the European Union. The Party complained against shall bear the expenses derived from the logistical administration of the hearing.
23. The panel may convene additional hearings if the Parties so agree.
24. All panellists shall be present during the entirety of a hearing.
25. Unless the Parties agree otherwise, the following persons may attend a hearing, irrespective of whether the hearing is open to the public or not:
(a) representatives of a Party;
(b) advisers;
(c) assistants and administrative staff;
(d) interpreters, translators and court reporters of the panel; and
(e) experts invited by the panel pursuant to Article 229(2).
26. No later than five days before the date of a hearing, each Party shall deliver to the panel and to the other Party a list of the names of its representatives who will make oral arguments or presentations at the hearing on behalf of that Party and of other representatives and advisers who will be attending the hearing.
27. The panel shall conduct the hearing in the following manner, ensuring that the complaining Party and the Party complained against are afforded equal time in both argument and rebuttal:
Argument
(a) argument of the complaining Party;
(b) argument of the Party complained against.
Rebuttal
(a) reply of the complaining Party;
(b) counter-reply of the Party complained against.
28. The panel may direct questions to either Party at any time during the hearing.
29. The panel shall arrange for a transcript or audio recording of the hearing to be prepared and delivered to the Parties as soon as possible after the hearing. The Parties may comment on the transcript, and the panel may consider those comments.
30. Each Party may deliver a supplementary written submission concerning any matter that arose during the hearing within 10 days after the date of the hearing.
VIII. Questions in writing
31. The panel may at any time during the proceedings submit questions in writing to one or both of the Parties. Any questions submitted to one Party shall be copied to the other Party.
32. Each Party shall provide the other Party with a copy of its responses to the questions submitted by the panel. The other Party shall have an opportunity to provide comments in writing on the Party’s responses within five days after the date of delivery of the copy.
IX. Confidentiality
33. Each Party and the panel shall treat as confidential any information submitted by the other Party to the panel that the other Party has designated as confidential. When a Party submits to the panel a written submission which contains confidential information, it shall also provide, within 15 days, a submission without the confidential information which can be disclosed to the public.
34. Nothing in these Rules of Procedure shall preclude a Party from disclosing statements of its own positions to the public provided that, when making reference to information submitted by the other Party, it does not disclose any information designated by the other Party as confidential.
35. The panel shall meet in closed session when the Parties so agree or when the submission and arguments of a Party contain business confidential information.
36. The Parties shall maintain the confidentiality of the panel hearings when the hearings are held in closed session.
X. Ex parte contacts
37. The panel shall not meet or communicate with a Party in the absence of the other Party.
38. A panellist shall not discuss any aspect of the subject matter of the proceedings with one Party or both Parties in the absence of the other panellists.
XI. Amicus curiae submissions
39. Unless the Parties agree otherwise within five days after the date of the establishment of the panel, the panel may receive unsolicited written submissions from natural persons of a Party or legal persons established in the territory of a Party who are independent of the governments of the Parties, provided that they:
(a) are received by the panel within 10 days after the date of the establishment of the panel;
(b) are concise and in no case longer than 15 double-spaced pages, including any annexes;
(c) are directly relevant to a factual or a legal issue under consideration by the panel;
(d) contain a description of the person making the submission, including for a natural person his or her nationality and for a legal person its place of establishment, the nature of its activities, its legal status, its general objectives and its source of financing;