The CITES Secretariat is pleased to welcome the European Union as the 181st Party to CITES.
The European Union is a regional economic integration organization (REIO) with 28 Member States: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.*
The European Union becomes the first REIO to accede to the Convention since the coming into effect of the Gaborone amendment to the text of the Convention on 29 November 2013. This amendment permitted REIOs, constituted by sovereign States which have competence in respect of the negotiation, conclusion and implementation of international agreements in matters transferred to them by their Member States and covered by the Convention, to accede.
The Secretariat will provide Parties with guidance about the practical effects of the accession of the European Union in due course.
The Convention will enter into force for the European Union on 8 July 2015.
* All of these Member States are already a Party to CITES in their own right.