The arrangements decided by the Association Council, in accordance with Article 65, shall in no way affect the rights and obligations resulting from bilateral agreements between Israel and the Member States where these agreements provide for a more favourable treatment of Israeli nationals or for nationals of the Member States.
Title IX. INSTITUTIONAL, GENERAL AND FINAL PROVISIONS
Article 67.
An Association Council is hereby established which shall meet at ministerial level once a year and when circumstances require, at the initiative of its Chairman and in accordance with the conditions laid down in its rules of procedure. It shall examine any major issues arising within the framework of this Agreement and any other bilateral or international issues of mutual interest.
Article 68.
1. The 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 members of the Government of the State of Israel, on the other.
2. The Association Council shall establish its Rules of Procedure.
3. Members of the Association Council may arrange to be represented in accordance with the provisions laid down in its Rules of Procedure.
4. The Association Council shall be chaired in turn by a member of the Council of the European Union and a member of the Government of the State of Israel, in accordance with the provisions laid down in its Rules of Procedure.
Article 69.
1. The Association Council shall, for the purpose of attaining the objectives of the Agreement, have the power to take decisions in the cases provided for therein. These decisions shall be binding on the Parties which shall take the measures necessary to implement the decisions taken. The Association Council may also make appropriate recommendations.
2. The Association Council shall draw up its decisions and recommendations by agreement between the Parties.
Article 70.
1. Subject to the powers of the Association Council, an Association Committee is hereby established which shall be responsible for the implementation of the Agreement.
2. The Association Council may delegate to the Association Committee, in full or in part, any of its powers.
Article 71.
1. The Association Committee, which shall meet at official level, shall consist of representatives of the members of the Council of the European Union and of members of the Commission of the European Communities, on the one hand, and of representatives of the Government of the State of Israel, on the other.
2. The Association Committee shall establish its Rules of Procedure.
3. The Association Committee shall be chaired in turn by a representative of the Presidency of the Council of the European Union and by a representative of the Government of the State of Israel.
Article 72.
1. The Association Committee shall have the power to take decisions for the management of the Agreement as well as in those areas in which the Association Council has delegated its powers to it. These decisions shall be binding on the Parties which shall take the measures necessary to implement the decisions taken.
2. The Association Committee shall draw up its decisions by agreement between the Parties.
Article 73.
The Association Council may decide to set up any working group or body necessary for the implementation of the Agreement.
Article 74.
The Association Council shall take all appropriate measures to facilitate cooperation and contacts between the European Parliament and the Knesset of the State of Israel, and between the Economic and Social Committee of the Community and the Economic and Social Council of Israel.
Article 75.
1. Each of the Parties may refer to the Association Council any dispute relating to the application or interpretation of this Agreement.
2. The Association Council may settle the dispute by means of a decision.
3. Each Party shall be bound to take the measures involved in carrying out the decision referred to in paragraph 2.
4. In the event of it not being possible to settle the dispute in accordance with paragraph 2, either Party may notify the other of the appointment of an arbitrator; the other Party must then appoint a second arbitrator within two months. For the application of this procedure, the Community and the Member States shall be deemed to be one Party to the dispute.
The Association Council shall appoint a third arbitrator.
The arbitrators' decisions shall be taken by majority vote.
Each party to the dispute must take the steps required to implement the decision of the arbitrators.
Article 76.
Nothing in the 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.
Article 77.
In the fields covered by this Agreement, and without prejudice to any special provisions contained therein:
- the arrangements applied by Israel in respect of the Community shall not give rise to any discrimination between the Member States, their nationals, or their companies or firms,
- the arrangements applied by the Community in respect of Israel shall not give rise to discrimination between Israeli nationals or its companies or firms.
Article 78.
As regards direct taxation, nothing in the Agreement shall have the effect of:
- extending the fiscal advantages granted by either Party in any international agreement or arrangement by which it is bound,
- preventing the adoption or application by either Party of any measure aimed at preventing the avoidance or the evasion of taxes,
- opposing the right of either Party to apply the relevant provisions of its tax legislation to taxpayers whose position, as regards place of residence, is not identical.
Article 79.
1. The Parties shall take any general or specific measures required to fulfil their obligations under the Agreement. They shall see to it that the objectives set out in the Agreement are attained.
2. If either Party considers that the other Party has failed to fulfil an obligation under the Agreement, it may take appropriate measures. Before so doing, except in cases of special urgency, it shall supply the 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.
In the selection of measures, priority shall be given to those which least disturb the functioning of the Agreement.
These measures shall be notified immediately to the Association Council and shall be the subject of consultations within the Association Council if the other Party so requests.
Article 80.
Protocols 1 to 5, Annexes I to VII shall form an integral part of this Agreement. Declarations and Exchanges of Letters shall appear in the Final Act, which shall form an integral part of this Agreement.
Article 81.
For the purpose of this Agreement the term "Parties" shall mean the Community, or the Member States, or the Community and the Member States, in accordance with their respective powers, of the one part, and Israel of the other part.
Article 82.
The Agreement is concluded for an unlimited period.
Each of the Parties may denounce the Agreement by notifying the other Party. The Agreement shall cease to apply six months after the date of such notification.
Article 83.
This Agreement shall apply, on the one hand, to the territories in which the Treaties establishing the European Community and the European Coal And Steel Community are applied and under the conditions laid down in those Treaties and, on the other hand, to the territory of the State of Israel.
Article 84.
This Agreement is drawn up in duplicate in the Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish and Hebrew languages; each of these texts being equally authentic, shall be deposited with the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union.
Article 85.
This Agreement shall be approved by the Parties 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.
Upon its entry into force this Agreement shall replace the Agreement between the European Community and the State of Israel, and the Agreement between the Member States of the European Coal and Steel Community, of the one part, and the State of Israel, of the other part, signed in Brussels on 11 May 1975.
Conclusion
Done at Brussels on the twentieth day of November in the year one thousand, nine hundred and ninety-five.
FOR THE KINGDOM OF BELGIUM,
This signature also commits the French Community, the Flemish Community, the German-speaking Community, the Walloon Region, the Flemish Region and the Brussels-Capital Region.
FOR THE KINGDOM OF DENMARK,
FOR THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY,
FOR THE HELLENIC REPUBLIC,
FOR THE KINGDOM OF SPAIN,
FOR THE FRENCH REPUBLIC,
FOR IRELAND,
FOR THE ITALIAN REPUBLIC,
FOR THE GRAND DUCHY OF LUXEMBOURG,
FOR THE KINGDOM OF THE NETHERLANDS,
FOR THE REPUBLIC OF AUSTRIA,
FOR THE PORTUGUESE REPUBLIC,
FOR THE REPUBLIC OF FINLAND,
FOR THE KINGDOM OF SWEDEN,
FOR THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND,
FOR THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
FOR THE STATE OF ISRAEL