13.8.74 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities NoL223/7
II
(Actswhosepublicationisnotobligatory)
COMMISSION
COMMISSION DECISION
of8July1974
authorizingtheKingdomofBelgium,theGrandDuchyofLuxembourgandthe
KingdomoftheNetherlandsnottoapplyCommunitytreatmenttomen's
shirts,ofcottonorofmixedman-madefibres,andmen'spyjamas,ofcotton,
fallingwithinheadingNoex61.03oftheCommonCustomsTarifforiginating
inRomaniaandputintofreecirculationintheFederalRepublicofGermany
(OnlytheFrenchandDutchtextsareauthentic)
(74/422/EEC)
THECOMMISSION OFTHEEUROPEAN
COMMUNITIES ,
HavingregardtotheTreatyestablishingtheEuropean
EconomicCommunity ,andinparticularthefirstpara­
graphofArticle115thereof;
Havingregardtotheapplicationunderthefirstpara­
graphofArticle115oftheTreatymadeon1July
1974,andsupplemented on4July1974,bythe
Governments oftheBeneluxcountriesbytelexofthe
PermanentRepresentative oftheNetherlandstothe
EuropeanCommunities ,forauthorizationnottoapply
Communitytreatmenttomen'sshirts,ofcottonorof
mixedman-madefibres,andmen'spyjamas,of
cotton,fallingwithinheadingNoex61.03ofthe
CommonCustomsTarifforiginatinginRomaniaand
putintofreecirculationintheFederalRepublicof
Germany;
WhereasinsupportoftheapplicationtheNether­
landsGovernment assertedthesearesensitive
products,importsofwhichfromEasternEuropeare
foreconomicreasonssubjecttoaglobalquota;
whereastheglobalquotawasexceededbyalmost
36%bytheimportationofproductsoriginatingin
thesecountriesandputintofreecirculationinthe
otherMemberStates;whereasthe1974quotaopened
infavourofRomaniahasalsobeenexhaustedand
importsofthesameproductsoriginatinginRomaniaandputintofreecirculationintheotherMember
Stateshavealreadybeenauthorizedtoanamountof
48%ofthisquota;
Whereastherequestforanimportlicencetowhich
theapplicationrelatesisforanamountofmorethan
42%ofthevalueofthequotaopenedinfavourof
Romaniawhilstthepriceoftheproductsconcernedis
52%to75%lessthanthepriceontheBenelux
markets;
Whereastheproductionofshirtshasgreatlydecreased
intheBeneluxcountriesandasaresultfactorieshave
closedandworkershavebeendismissed ;whereasthe
pricesofimportsoriginatinginEasternEuropeare
generallyabout50%lowerthancomparableprices
ontheBeneluxmarkets;whereastheMemberStates
oftheBeneluxpursuanttothepriceclausesintheir
TradeAgreementwiththecountriesofEastern
Europecantakeactionagainstdirectimportsatprices
whicharetoolow;whereaspricesareconsideredtoo
lowwhentheyareatleast10%belowinternal
prices;whereasifnoprotectivemeasuresexist,
importsoftheseproductsbyreasonoffreecirculation
willseriouslythreatentheBeneluxindustry;
Whereastherequestforanimportlicencetowhich
theapplicationrelatesisforclothing,originatingin
RomaniaandputintofreecirculationintheFederal
RepublicofGermany ;whereasimportsofthese

NoL223/8 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities 13.8.74
productsintotheFederalRepublicofGermanyare
admittedwithinthelimitsofthequantitativequota
providedforbythe1973TradeProtocolbetweenthe
FederalRepublicofGermanyandRomaniawhich
wasnegotiatedinaccordancewiththeconclusions
obtainedfromthepriorconsultationprovidedforin
TitleIIIoftheCouncilDecisionof16December
1969(J)andadoptedasaguidelinefornegotiations
bytheCouncilDecisionof14March1973;
Whereasthisquotahasbeenincreasedunilaterally
andforreasonsofcontingencyin1973,andthis
increasewasthesubjectofpriorconsultation as
providedbytheCouncilDecisionof19December
1972(2);whereasthequotathusincreasedwas
extendedinitsexistingformuntil1974,afterconsulta­
tionsinaccordancewiththeaforementioned Council
Decisions ;
Whereasthispriorconsultationinvolvessuchcoordi­
nationaswillensuretheproperfunctioningandthe
strengthening oftheCommonMarket,willtakeinto
accountthelegitimateinterestsofMemberStatesas
regardsbothimportsandthegrowthofexportsand
willcontributetowardstheestablishment ofuniform
principlesofcommoncommercialpolicyinrelation
tothecountryinquestion;
Whereasitcanthereforebepresumedthatimportsby
theFederalRepublicofGermanyunderthequotain
questionwillnotbelikelytoobstructtheexecutionof
commercialpolicymeasurestakenbytheother
MemberStatesinaccordancewiththeTreatyforthe
sameproductsinrelationtothesamethirdcountry
nortoleadtoeconomicdifficultiesintheseother
MemberStates;
Whereas,however,fromtheinformationsuppliedby
thegovernments oftheBeneluxcountriesitappears
'thateconomicdifficultiesdoexistintheclothing
industry;whereaslow-pricedimportsoftheproducts
inquestion,originatinginRomaniaandputintofree
circulationintheFederalRepublicofGermany,could
giverisetofurthereconomicdifficulties ;
Whereassucheconomicdifficultiesareduetothe
differencesbetweenmeasuresofcommercialpolicy,in
particularasregardsprices,whichareappliedbythe
MemberStatesofBeneluxontheonehand,andthe
FederalRepublicofGermanyontheother,toimports
oftheproductsinquestionoriginatinginandcoming
fromRomania ;
Whereas,however,theseeconomicdifficultiesdonot
appeartobeduetoimportsfromMemberStatesotherthantheFederalRepublicofGermany,andthe
Beneluxgovernments havenotclaimedthatsuchis
thecase;
Whereasitisnotpossibletosetinmotion,atshort
notice,themachineryforbringingabouttheneces­
sarycooperationfromtheFederalRepublicof
Germany,whereappropriate ,overprices;
Whereasinthesecircumstances authorization should
begivenfortheapplicationofmeasuresofprotection,
underthefirstparagraphofArticle115,subjecttothe
conditionslaiddownbytheCommissionDecisionof
12May1971andinparticularArticle1(3)thereof,for
alimitedperiodtoenabletheCommission ,inconsul­
tationwiththeMemberStatesconcerned,toexamine
themeasuresthatshouldbetakentosolvethediffi­
cultiesofthetextileindustryintheBeneluxcountries,
HASADOPTEDTHISDECISION :
Article1
TheKingdomofBelgium,theGrandDuchyof
LuxembourgandtheKingdomoftheNetherlandsare
authorizednottoapplyCommunitytreatmentto
importsofmen'sshirtsofcottonorofmixedman­
madefibres,andmen'spyjamas,ofcotton,falling
withinheadingNoex61.03oftheCommonCustoms
Tariff,originatinginRomaniaandputintofreecircu­
lationintheFederalRepublicofGermany,forwhich
thepricechargedtotheconsumerisatleast10%
lowerthanthepriceforsimilarproductsonthe
Beneluxmarket,andinrespectofwhichapplications
forimportlicenceswerelodgedafter10June1974.
Article2
ThisDecisionshallapplyuntil31October1974.
Article3
ThisDecisionisaddressedtotheKingdomof
Belgium,theGrandDuchyofLuxembourgandthe
KingdomoftheNetherlands .
DoneatBrussels,8July1974.
FortheCommission
ThePresident
Francois-Xavier ORTOLI
(')OJNoL326,29.12.1969,p.39.
(2)OJNoL299,31.12.1972,p.46. (3)OJNoL121,3.6.1971,p.26.