Council Common Position 2004/493/CFSP of 17 May 2004 amending Common Position 2002/400/CFSP concerning the temporary reception by Member States of the European Union of certain Palestinians

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on European Union, and in particular Article 15 thereof,

Whereas:

(1) On 21 May 2002 , the Council adopted Common Position 2002/400/CFSP concerning the temporary reception by Member States of the European Union of certain Palestinians(1) and granting them national permits valid for a period of up to 12 months.

(2) On 19 May 2003 , the Council adopted Common Position 2003/366/CFSP amending Common Position 2002/400/CFSP(2) and modifying the validity of those permits for a period of up to 24 months.

(3) The validity of those permits should be extended for a further period of 6 months,

HAS ADOPTED THIS COMMON POSITION:

Article 1

Common Position 2002/400/CFSP is hereby amended as follows:

1) the first subparagraph of Article 3 shall read as follows:

«Each of the Member States referred to in Article 2 shall provide the Palestinians it receives with a national permit to enter its territory and stay for a period of up to 30 months.»

;

2) Article 8 shall read as follows:

«Article 8

The Council shall keep the application of this Common Position under review and shall evaluate such application within 29 months from its adoption or earlier at the request of any of its members.»

.

Article 2

This Common Position shall take effect on the day of its adoption.

Article 3

This Common Position shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union .

Done at Brussels, 17 May 2004 .

For the Council

The President

B. Cowen

(1) OJ L 138, 28.5.2002, p. 33.

(2) OJ L 124, 20.5.2003, p. 51.