INTERIM AGREEMENT

between the European Economic Community and Greece consequent on the accession of new Member States to the Community

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES ,

of the one part , and

THE GOVERNMENT OF THE HELLENIC REPUBLIC ,

of the other part ,

WHEREAS the adjustments to the Agreement establishing an association between the European Economic Community and Greece , hereinafter called the ' Agreement of Association ' , which are necessary consequent on the accession to the Community of the Kingdom of Denmark , Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland , hereinafter called the " new Member States " , were laid down in an additional Protocol signed at Brussels on 28 April 1975 .

WHEREAS , pending the entry into force of this Protocol , certain of its provisions relating to trade should be implemented as soon as possible by means of an interim Agreement ;

HAVE DECIDED to conclude this Agreement and to this end have designated as their Plenipotentiaries :

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES :

THE GOVERNMENT OF THE HELLENIC REPUBLIC :

WHO , having exchanged their full powers , found in good and due form .

HAVE AGREED AS FOLLOWS :

Article 1

The provisions of the Agreement of Association shall , in so far as they relate to trade , apply to the new Member States and Greece , save as otherwise provided in Articles 2 to 15 of this Agreement .

Article 2

1 . During the period ending on 31 December 1977 , the new Member States shall apply to Greece the reductions in customs duties and charges having equivalent effect provided for by the Agreement of Association , at the same rates and dates as they adopt for the elimination of customs duties and charges having equivalent effect in regard to the Community as originally constituted .

The rates of duty on the basis of which the new Member States apply such reductions to Greece shall be those actually in force on 1 January 1972 .

2 . Subject to the effect to be given by the Community to Article 39 ( 5 ) of the Act concerning the conditions of accession and the adjustments to the Treaties , hereinafter called the ' Act of Accession ' , in respect of the specific duties or the specific part of the mixed duties of the customs tariffs of Ireland and the United Kingdom , paragraph 1 shall be applied by rounding to the fourth place of decimals .

Article 3

1 . In the case of customs duties comprising a protective element and a fiscal element , Article 2 shall apply to the protective element .

2 . Ireland and the United Kingdom shall replace customs duties of a fiscal nature or the fiscal element of such duties by an internal tax , in accordance with Article 38 of the Act of Accession and shall apply to Greece the same treatment as they apply to the other Member States .

Article 4

The import arrangements in force in Ireland for the products listed in the Annex shall be abolished as regards Greece not later than on the dates provided for in Protocols 6 and 7 to the Act of Accession , in accordance with procedures to be determined by the Council of Association , account being taken of these Protocols .

Article 5

The effective date for the implementation of the rules laid down in Article 37 ( 2 ) ( a ) and ( b ) of the Agreement of Association by the new Member States as regards agricultural products not listed in Annex III to the Agreement of Association shall be 1 January 1972 .

The Council of Association can take any measures to harmonize the different levels of customs duties arising from the rules mentioned in the previous paragraph .

Article 6

1 . For the products falling within Common Customs Tariff heading No 22.05 , the new Member States shall open annual import tariff quotas for the benefit of Greece equal to the quantities set out below and to the duties applied by those Member States on 1 January 1975 to imports from the Community as originally constituted :

United Kingdom : 6 000 hl

Denmark : 500 hl

Ireland : 500 hl .

2 . The arrangements laid down in paragraph 1 shall be applicable in 1975 and 1976 .

These arrangements could be reviewed before the end of 1975 , should such revision appear useful in the light of developments in the wine sector and of progress made in harmonizing agricultural policies in that sector .

Article 7

The Community shall , before the end of the first year after the entry into force of this Agreement , communicate to Greece the provisions relating to the special arrangements which are defined in Protocol 5 annexed to the Agreement of Association and which are referred to in Article 113 of the Act of Accession .

Article 8

1 . During the period referred to in Article 2 ( 1 ) , Greece shall reduce in regard to the new Member States the differences between the customs duties and charges having equivalent effect which Greece applies to third countries and those which Greece applies , in pursuance of the Agreement of Association , to the Community as originally constituted , at the same rates and dates as the new Member States adopt for the elimination of customs duties and charges having equivalent effect in regard to the Community as originally constituted .

2 . In the event of any amendment to the rates and dates adopted by the new Member States for the elimination of customs duties and charges having equivalent effect in regard to the Community as originally constituted , the Council of Association shall take the necessary measures to take account of such an amendment .

3 . However , the Council of Association may adopt appropriate measures with a view to making the reductions to be applied by Greece in regard to the new Member States coincide with the timetable prescribed by the Agreement of Association .

Article 9

1 . For the purposes of Articles 18 ( 2 ) and ( 5 ) ( c ) , 23 ( 1 ) ( b ) and 26 of the Agreement of Association , the volume of imports from the Community shall include those effected by Greece , during the period in question , from the new Member States .

However , the implementation of this provision shall not lead to the removal of products from the consolidation lists notified by Greece under Article 23 ( 3 ) of the Agreement of Association .

2 . The volume of Community imports from third countries in respect of which the Community may open tariff quotas under paragraph ( 3 ) ( b ) of Protocol 10 , annexed to the Agreement of Association , shall include such imports effected by the new Member States from third countries .

Article 10

For trade in goods between the new Member States and Greece , Article 7 of the Agreement of Association shall apply only to goods exported from a new Member State or from Greece on or after 28 April 1975 .

Article 11

Goods obtained or produced in the original Member States of the Community or in Greece , the manufacture of which involved the use of products from a new Member State that were not in free circulation either in the original Member States or in Greece , shall also be admitted to the arrangements provided for by the Agreement of Association .

However , the admission of the said products to the above arrangements may be subject to the charging of a levy in the exporting country so long as duties and charges having equivalent effect governing trade between the new Member States and Greece remain different from those applied in trade between the original Member States and Greece .

Article 8 of the Agreement of Association shall be applied .

Article 12

The Council of Association shall determine the methods of administrative cooperation for the implementation of Articles 7 and 8 of the Agreement of Association in trade between the Community and Greece , taking into account the methods adopted by the Community in respect of intra-Community trade .

Article 13

Before the end of the first year after the entry into force of this Agreement , the Community and Greece may , as regards trade between the new Member States and Greece , exercise the option provided for in Article 10 ( 4 ) of the Agreement of Association , with regard to any disparities in customs duties resulting from the application by the new Member States of the transitional provisions of the Act of Accession .

Article 14

1 . Until 31 December 1977, if in a new Member State difficulties arise which are serious and liable to persist in any sector of the economy or which could bring about serious deterioration in the economic situation of a region , the Community may adopt safeguard measures in order to rectify the situation .

2 . In the same circumstances Greece may adopt safeguard measures in respect of one or more new Member States .

3 . The measures taken under paragraphs 1 and 2 may involve derogations from the provisions of the Agreement of Association , to such an extent and for such periods as are strictly necessary in order to attain the objectives referred to in those paragraphs .

4 . Priority shall be given to such measures as will least disturb the functioning of the Association .

5 . The measures taken and the manner in which they are to be put into effect , shall be notified forthwith to the Council of Association . Consultations on these measures may be held within the said Council .

Article 15

1 . This Agreement shall apply , in the manner laid down in the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community , to the European territories of the Kingdom of Belgium , the Kingdom of Denmark , the Federal Republic of Germany , the French Republic , Ireland , the Italian Republic , the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland , and to the other European territories whose external relations are administered by a Member State , on the one hand , and to the territory of the Hellenic Republic on the other .

2 . The Agreement shall also apply to the territories specified in the first subparagraph of Article 227 ( 2 ) of the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community concerning the fields covered by this Agreement which are listed in the same subparagraph .

The conditions for applying to those territories the provisions of this Agreement relating to other fields shall be decided at a later date by agreement between the Contracting Parties .

Article 16

This Agreement shall enter into force on the first day of the second month following the day on which the Contracting Parties have notified each other of the completion of the necessary procedures .

It shall be applicable until the entry into force of the Additional Protocol or until 31 December 1976 whichever is the earlier .

From that date it shall be tacitly extended for periods of one year , unless one of the Contracting Parties expresses its disagreement one month before its expiry date .

Article 17

This Agreement is drawn up in two copies in the Danish , Dutch , English , French , German , Italian and Greek languages , each of these texts being authentic .

ANNEX

List of products referred to in Article 4

CCT heading No * Description of goods *

ex 60.03 , ex 60.04 * Tights and stockings other than knee-length stockings entirely or mainly made of silk or man-made fibres , of a value of not more than £ 2.50 per dozen pairs *

ex 73.35 * Laminated springs of iron or steel , for use as parts of vehicles , and leaves for these springs *

ex 85.08 D * Sparking plugs and metal component parts *

ex 96.01 * Brushes and brooms *

ex 96.02 * Private cars and commercial vehicles referred to in Protocol 7 to the Act of Accession