1969R2603 — EN — 03.01.1992 — 001.001 — 1
This document is meant purely as a documentation tool and the institutions do not assume any liability for its contents
►B REGULATION(EEC)NO2603/69OFTHECOUNCIL
of20December 1969
establishingcommonrulesforexports
(OJ L 324, 27.12.1969, p. 25)
Amended by:
Official Journal
No page date
►M1Regulation (EEC) No 234/71 of the Council of 1 February 1971 L 28 2 4.2.1971
►M2Regulation(EEC)No1078/71oftheCouncilof25May1971(*)         L116528.5.1971
►M3Regulation (EEC) No 2182/71 of the Council of 12 October 1971 L 231 4 14.10.1971
►M4Regulation (EEC) No 1275/75 of the Council of 20 May 1975 L 131 1 22.5.1975
►M5Regulation(EEC)No1170/76oftheCouncilof17May1976L131520.5.1976
►M6Regulation (EEC) No 1934/82 of the Council of 12 July 1982 L 211 1 20.7.1982
►M7Regulation (EEC) No 3918/91 of the Council of 19 December 1991 L 372 31 31.12.1991
Corrected by:
►C1Consolidated text of corrigenda to instruments published in Special
Editions 1952-72, p. 71 (2603/69)
►C2Corrigendum, OJ L 285, 8.10.1982, p. 30 (1934/82)
(*) This Act was never published in English.
▼B
REGULATION(EEC)NO2603/69OFTHECOUNCIL
of20December 1969
establishingcommonrulesforexports
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic
Community, and in particular Articles 111 and 113 thereof;
Having regard to the instruments establishing common organisation of
agricultural markets and to the instruments concerning processed agri-cultural products adopted in pursuance of Article 235 of the Treaty, inparticular the provisions of those instruments which allow for deroga-tion from the general principle that quantitative restrictions or measures
having equivalent effect may be replaced solely by the measures
provided for in those same instruments;
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission;Whereas, after the transitional period has ended, the common commer-
cial policy must be based on uniform principles, inter alia as regards
exports; and whereas implementation of this policy necessarily involvesits progressive standardisation during the transitional period;
Whereas common rules should therefore be established for exports
from the EEC;
Whereas exports are almost completely liberalised in all the Member
States; whereas it is therefore possible to accept as a Community prin-ciple that exports to third countries are not subject to any quantitativerestriction, subject to the exceptions provided for in this Regulation andwithout prejudice to such measures as Member States may take in
conformity withth e Treaty;
Whereas the Commission must be informed if, as a result of unusual
developments on the market, a Member State considers that protectivemeasures might be necessary;
Whereas it is essential that examination should take place at Commu-
nity level, in particular on the basis of any such information and withinan advisory committee, of export terms and conditions, of exporttrends, of the various aspects of the economic and commercial situa-tion, and of the measures, if any, to be taken;
Whereas it may become apparent from this examination that the
Community should exercise surveillance over certain exports, or thatinterim protective measures should be introduced as a safeguard againstunforeseen practices; whereas the need for rapid and effective actionmakes it justifiable for the Commission to be empowered to decide
upon such measures, but without prejudice to the subsequent position
of the Council, whose responsibility it is to adopt a policy consistentwith the interests of the Community;
Whereas any protective measures necessitated by the interests of the
Community should be adopted with due regard for existing interna-
tional obligations;
Whereas it is desirable that Member States be impowered (SIC!
empowered), in certain circumstances and provided that their actionsare on an interim basis only, to take protective measures individually;
Whereas it is desirable that while such protective measures are in
operation there should be an opportunity for consultation for thepurpose of examining the effects of the measures and of ascertainingwhether the conditions for their application are still satisfied;
Whereas certain products should be provisionally excluded from
Community liberalisation until the Council shall have acted to establish
common rules in respect of those products;
Whereas this Regulation is to apply to all products, whether industrial
or agricultural; whereas its operation should be complementary to thatof the instruments establishing common organisation of agricultural1969R2603 — EN — 03.01.1992 — 001.001 — 2
▼B
markets, and to that of the special instruments adopted under Article
235 of the Treaty for processed agricultural products; whereas anyoverlap between the provisions of this Regulation and the provisions
of those instruments, particularly the protective clauses thereof, must
however be avoided;
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
TITLE I
Basicprinciple
Article 1
The exportation of products from the European Economic Community
to third countries shall be free, that is to say, they shall not be subjectto any quantitative restriction, with the exception of those restrictions
which are applied in conformity with the provisions of this Regulation.
TITLE II
Communityinformationandconsultationprocedure
Article 2
If, as a result of any unusual developments on the market, a Member
State considers that protective measures within the meaning of Title
III might be necessary, it shall so notify the Commission, which shall
advise the other Member States.
Article 3
1. Consultations may be held at any time, either at the request of a
Member State or on the initiative of the Commission.
2. Consultations shall take place within four working days following
receipt by the Commission of the notification provided for in Article 2,and in all cases before the introduction of any measure pursuant toArticles 5 to 7.
Article 4
1. Consultation shall take place within an advisory committee (here-
inafter called ‘the Committee’), which shall consist of representativesof eachMember State witha representative of th e Commission asChairman.
2. The Committee shall meet when convened by its Chairman. He
shall provide all the Member States, as promptly as possible, with allrelevant information.
3. Consultation shall in particular cover:
(a) terms and conditions of export, export trends, and the various
aspects of the economic and commercial situation as regards the
product in question;
(b) the measures, if any, to be adopted.
Article 5
For the purpose of assessing the economic and commercial situation as
regards a particular product, the Commission may request MemberStates to supply statistical data on market trends in that product and,
to this end, acting in accordance with their national legislation and
witha procedure to be specified by th e Commission, to exercisesurveillance over exports of suchproduct. Member States sh all takewhatever steps are necessary in order to give effect to requests fromthe Commission and shall forward to the Commission the datarequested. The Commission shall inform the other Member States.1969R2603 — EN — 03.01.1992 — 001.001 — 3
▼B
TITLE III
Protective measures
Article 6
1. In order to prevent a critical situation from arising on account of
a shortage of essential products, or to remedy such a situation, and
where Community interests call for immediate intervention, the
Commission, acting at the request of a Member State or on its owninitiative, and taking account of the nature of the products and of theother particular features of the transactions in question, may make theexport of a product subject to the production of an export authorisation,
the granting of which shall be governed by such provisions and subject
to such limits as the Commission shall lay down pending subsequentaction by the Council under Article 7.
2. The Council and the Member States shall be notified of the
measures taken. Suchmeasures sh all take effect immediately.
3. The measures may be limited to exports to certain countries or to
exports from certain regions of the Community. They shall not affect
products already on their way to the Community frontier.
4. Where intervention by the Commission has been requested by a
Member State, the Commission shall take a decision within amaximum of five working days of receipt of such request. Should theCommission refuse to give effect to the request, it shall forthwithcommunicate its decision to the Council, which may, acting by a quali-
fied majority, decide differently.
5. Any Member State may, within twelve working days of the day
of their communication to the Member States, refer the measures takento the Council. The Council may, acting by a qualified majority, decidethat different action be taken.
6. Where the Commission has acted pursuant to paragraph 1, it
shall, not later than twelve working days following the entry into force
of the measure which it has taken, make a proposal to the Council on
appropriate measures as provided for in Article 7. If, at the end of sixweeks following the entry into force of the measure, taken by theCommission, the Council has taken no decision on this proposal, themeasure in question shall be deemed revoked.
Article 7
1. Where the interests of the Community so require, the Council
may, acting by a qualified majority on a proposal from the Commis-
sion, adopt appropriate measures:
— to prevent a critical situation from arising owing to a shortage of
essential products, or to remedy sucha situation;
— to allow international undertakings entered into by the Community
or all the Member States to be fulfilled, in particular those relating
to trade in primary products.
2. Suchmeasures may be limited to exports to certain countries or
to exports from certain regions of the Community. They shall not affectproducts already on their way to the Community frontier.
3. When quantitative restrictions on exports are introduced, account
shall be taken in particular of:
— the volume of goods exported under contracts concluded on normal
terms and conditions before the entry into force of a protectivemeasure within the meaning of this Title and notified by theMember State concerned to the Commission in conformity with itsnational laws; and
— the need to avoid jeopardising achievement of the aim pursued in
introducing quantitative restrictions.1969R2603 — EN — 03.01.1992 — 001.001 — 4
▼B
Article 8
1. Where a Member State considers that there exists in its territory a
situation such as that defined as regards the Community in Article 6(1), it may, as an interim protective measure, make the export of aproduct subject to the production of an export authorisation, the
granting of which shall be governed by such provisions and subject to
such limits as that Member State shall lay down.
2. The Member State shall take such a measure after hearing the
opinions expressed in the Committee or, where urgency precludessuch a procedure, after notifying the Commission. The latter shalladvise the other Member States.
3. The Commission shall be notified by telex of the measure imme-
diately following its adoption; suchnotification sh all be equivalent to arequest within the meaning of Article 6 (4). The measure shall operateonly until the coming into operation of the decision taken by the
Commission.
(SIC!)
4. The provisions of this Article shall apply until 31 December
1972. Before that date the Council shall, by a qualified majority on aproposal from the Commission, decide on the adjustments to be made
thereto.
Article 9
1. While any measure referred to in Articles 6 to 8 is in operation,
consultations within the Committee shall be held, either at the requestof a Member State or on the initiative of the Commission. The purposeof suchconsultations sh all be:
(a) to examine the effects of the measures;
(b) to ascertain whether the conditions for its application are still satis-
fied.
2. Where the Commission considers that any measure provided for
in Article 6 or in Article 7 should be revoked or amended, it shall
proceed as follows:
(a) where the Council has taken no decision on a measure taken by the
Commission, the latter shall amend or revoke such measure forth-
with and shall immediately deliver a report to the Council;
(b) in all other cases, the Commission shall propose to the Council that
the measures adopted by the Council be revoked or amended. TheCouncil shall act by a qualified majority.
TITLE IV
Transitionalandfinalprovisions
Article 10
1. Until 31 December 1992, the principle of the freedom of export
as laid down in Article 1 shall not apply:
— to those products listed in Annex I for the Member States
mentioned therein,
— nor to exports which are at present restricted by the Member States
pursuant to a decision taken in European Political Cooperation.
2. In respect of products listed in Annex II, until suchtime as th e
Council adopts appropriate measures pursuant to inernational (SIC!
international) commitments entered into by the Community or all its
Member States, Member States shall be authorized to implement,without prejudice to rules adopted by the Community in this field, theemergency sharing system introducing an allocation obligation vis-à-vis
third countries provided for in international commitments entered intobefore the entry into force of this Regulation.1969R2603 — EN — 03.01.1992 — 001.001 — 5
▼M7
▼M7
Member States shall inform the Commission of measures they intend to
adopt. The measures adopted shall be communicated by the Commis-sion to the Council and other Member States.
Article 11
Without prejudice to other Community provisions, this Regulation shall
not preclude the adoption or application by a Member State of quanti-tative restrictions on exports on grounds of public morality, publicpolicy or public security; the protection of health and life of humans,animals or plants; the protection of national treasures possessingartistic, historic or archaeological value, or the protection of industrial
and commercial property.
Article 12
1. This Regulation shall be without prejudice to the operation of the
instruments establishing common organisation of agricultural markets,
or of the special instruments adopted under Article 235 of the Treatyfor processed agricultural products; it shall operate by way of comple-ment to those instruments.
2. However, in the case of products covered by such instruments,
the provisions of Articles 6 and 8 shall not apply to those in respect
of which the Community rules on trade with third countries make
provision for the application of quantitative export restrictions. Theprovisions of Article 5 shall not apply to those products in respect ofwhich such rules require the production of a licence or other exportdocument.
Article 13
This Regulation shall enter into force on 31 December 1969.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable
in all Member States.1969R2603 — EN — 03.01.1992 — 001.001 — 6
▼B
▼M7
ANNEX I
Productsreferred tointhefirstindentofArticle10(1)
CN code DescriptionMember State applying
the restriction
ex 410110 Whole hides or skins of bovine animals, of a
weight per skin not exceeding 8 kg when
simply dried, 10 kg when dry-salted, or 14 kg
when fresh, wet-salted or otherwise preservedItaly
ex 4102 Raw skins of sheep or lambs (fresh or salted,
dried, limed, pickled or otherwise preserved,
but not tanned, parchment-dressed or further
prepared), whether or not with wool on or split,
other than those excluded by note 1 (c) to this
chapterItaly
ex 410210 Withwool on France
ex 410210 90 Withwool on, oth er France
ex 410229 00 Without wool on, other France
ex 410310 Other raw hides and skins of goats or kids
(fresh, or salted, dried, limed, pickled or other-
wise preserved, but not tanned, parchment-
dressed or further prepared), whether or not
dehaired or split, other than those excluded by
note1(b)or1(c)tothischapterItaly
ex 430120 00 Raw furskins (including heads, tails, paws and
other pieces or cuttings, suitable for furriers'
use), other than raw hides and skins of heading
No 4101, 4102 or 4103 of rabbit or hare,
whole, with or without head, tail or pawsItaly1969R2603 — EN — 03.01.1992 — 001.001 — 7
▼M7
ANNEX II
Productsreferred toinArticle 10(2)
CN code Description
270900 Petroleum oils and oils obtained from bituminous minerals, crude
271000 Petroleum oils and oils obtained from bituminous minerals, other than
crude; preparations not elsewhere specified or included, containing
by weight70%ormoreofpetroleumoilsorofoilsobtainedfrombitumi-
nous minerals, these oils being the basic constituents of the
preparations:
271000 11 to271000 39Lightoils
271000 41 to271000 59Medium oils
271000 61 to271000 99Heavy oils, except lubricating oils, used in clocks and watches and thelike, presented in small receptacles containing not more than 250 g net
of oil
ex 271000 91 to
ex 271000 99
2711 Petroleum gases and other gaseous hydrocarbons:
- Liquified (SIC! Liquefied)
- - Propane: 271112
---Propaneofapuritynotlessthan99%- - - Other
271113 - - Butanes
- In gaseous state:
ex 271129 00 - - Other:
- - - Propane
- - - Butanes1969R2603 — EN — 03.01.1992 — 001.001 — 8