Form and content of the agreements at issue
29Emphasising that the agreements at issue are virtually identical in substance, the Commission produces only the agreement signed with Japan. The Council confirms that the agreements are substantially the same.
30In accordance with paragraph 5 of the Procedural Rules, the agreement signed with Japan takes the form of a joint letter signed by the Commission on behalf of the Community and its Member States, on the one part, and by Japan, on the other (‘the Joint Letter’).
31As provided for by paragraph 5 of those rules, a report on the result of the negotiations is annexed to the Joint Letter. That report has two annexes (‘Annex I’ and ‘Annex II’).
32Annex I lists the planned modifications and withdrawals in respect of the Schedules of commitments of the new Member States. It comprises two parts.
33Annex I(A) contains the list of the modifications and withdrawals set out in document S/SECRET/8.
34As regards horizontal commitments, there is an extension to various new Member States of certain limitations appearing in the existing Schedule of commitments of the Community and of its Member States. That is the case with regard to the horizontal limitation concerning market access in mode 3 for services regarded in the Member States as public utilities at a national or local level which may be subject to public monopolies or to exclusive rights granted to private operators. That is also the case with regard to restrictions on the benefit of national treatment concerning branches or agencies established in a Member State by a third-State company or certain branches of third-State companies formed in accordance with the law of a Member State (mode 3) and national treatment restrictions concerning subsidies (modes 3 and 4). There is also an extension to a number of new Member States of certain horizontal restrictions relating to market access under mode 4 with regard to the temporary stay of (i) intra-corporate transferees, (ii) business visitors responsible for negotiating sales of services or concluding service contracts, (iii) persons responsible for establishing a commercial presence in a Member State and (iv) natural persons employed to supply services on a temporary basis by a legal person without a commercial presence in any Member State of the Community.
35Annex I(A) also provides for the withdrawal of certain horizontal market-access commitments previously made by the Republic of Cyprus and the Republic of Lithuania and relating to mode 4.
36As regards sectoral commitments, Annex I(A) first extends to various new Member States limitations in the existing Schedule of commitments of the Community and its Member States. Those limitations relate to market access as regards (i) aircraft rental/leasing services without operators (modes 2 and 3), (ii) educational services inasmuch as they are covered by the Schedule of the Community and its Member States but only in so far as they are privately funded and (iii) banking and other financial services (modes 1 and 3). The limitations also concern national treatment with regard to certain air transport services, namely transport sales and marketing and computer reservations systems.
37Annex I(A) also withdraws sectoral commitments previously given by certain new Member States relating to space transport and services incidental to manufacturing industries. Further, it introduces in relation to certain new Member States new sectoral limitations on market access as regards air transport (rental of aircraft with crew) (modes 1 to 3) and services auxiliary to all modes of transport (mode 3).
38Annex I(B) sets out the list of withdrawals of certain commitments, both horizontal and sectoral, of the Republic of Cyprus and the Republic of Malta regarding national treatment under mode 4, which are included in the document S/SECRET/9. The sectoral commitments concerned relate to computer and related services, research and development services in social services and humanities, insurance and insurance-related services, banking and other financial services, hotel, restaurant and catering services, travel agencies’ and tour operators’ services and maritime transport services for passengers and freight.
39Annex II lists the commitments agreed by way of compensation in consideration for the modifications and withdrawals of commitments mentioned in Document S/SECRET/8 and included in Annex I(A). As regards horizontal commitments, Annex II sets out an adjustment relating to the abovementioned horizontal limitation regarding market access under mode 3 concerning services regarded in the Member States as public utilities, as well as a withdrawal of the horizontal limitation relating to investment concerning the Republic of Austria (mode 3) and of horizontal commitments made by the Republic of Malta and the Republic of Cyprus concerning intra-corporate transferees and business visitors (mode 4). Sectoral commitments, or withdrawals of limitations relating to them, regarding market access or national treatment are also listed in relation to various Member States. They relate, respectively, to engineering services (modes 2 and 3), integrated engineering services (modes 3 and 4), urban planning and landscape architectural services (modes 2 and 3), computer and related services (modes 1 to 4), advertising services (mode 1), telecommunications services, financial services (insurance services and banking) (mode 3), hotel, restaurant and catering services (mode 3), travel agencies’ and tour operators’ services (mode 3) and hairdressing services (modes 2 and 3).
40The Joint Letter states that, together with Annexes I and II, it constitutes the agreement between the parties. It provides that the Community and the Member States are to transmit to the WTO Secretariat the draft consolidated schedule of their commitments with a view to its certification and that the results of the negotiations between the parties will enter into force after the certification procedure has been completed, on a date to be specified by the Community and its Member States after completion of the internal approval procedures. The letter also stipulates that the modifications and withdrawals proposed in Documents S/SECRET/8 and S/SECRET/9 will not enter into force before the entry into force of the compensatory adjustments negotiated.