Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

"Iris Oifigiúil" of 2nd June, 2015.

I, LEO VARADKAR, Minister for Health, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 3 of the European Communities Act 1972 (No. 27 of 1972) and for the purpose of giving effect to EU Decision No. 1082/2013/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2013¹ on serious cross-border threats to health, hereby make the following regulations:

1. These Regulations may be cited as the European Communities Act 1972 (Joint Procurement Agreement on Serious Cross-Border Threats to Health) Regulations 2015.

2. In these Regulations-

"Decision" means EU Decision No. 1082/2013/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2013¹ on serious cross-border threats to health;

"Joint Procurement Agreement" means the joint procurement agreement referred to in Article 5.3 of the Decision.

3. For the purposes of giving full effect to Article 5 of the Decision-

(a) the Minister for Health may sign the Joint Procurement Agreement on behalf of the State, and

(b) the Health Service Executive may act as the contracting authority on behalf of the State for all purposes connected with the joint procurement procedure referred to in Article 5 of the Decision.

GIVEN under my Official Seal,

28 May 2015.

LEO VARADKAR,

Minister for Health.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Instrument and does not purport to be a legal interpretation.)

These regulations enable the Minister for Health to sign the Joint Procurement Agreement on behalf of the State, as set out in Article 5 of EU Decision No. 1082/2013/EU on serious cross-border threats to health; and the Health Service Executive to act as the contracting authority for the purposes of the procurement process for joint procurement of medical counter-measures as referred to in Article 27 of the Joint Procurement Agreement.

1 OJ L 5.11.2013