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COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION No 1518/82/ECSC

of 11 June 1982

amending recommendation No 1835/81/ECSC on the obligation to publish price lists and conditions of sale and on prohibited practices in the steel trade

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN

COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community, and in particular Article 63 (3) and the first and second paragraphs of Article 95 thereof,

Whereas Commission recommendation No 1835/81/ECSC (1), has obliged the Member States to take all measures necessary to ensure that steel distributive undertakings observe rules governing prices and conditions of sale similar to those that apply to production undertakings pursuant to Article 60 of the Treaty and its implementing Decisions; whereas the Member States must bring into force the measures necessary to achieve the goals set out in that recommendation with effect from 1 July 1982;

Whereas, by its Decision No 1836/81/ECSC (2), the Commission itself required steel distributive undertakings to comply with the said rules until 30 June 1982 in an effort to influence prices throughout the steel market immediately; whereas implementation of this Decision has improved the prospects of an increase in steel prices;

Whereas implementation of Decision No 1836/81/ECSC has shown that certain details needed to be added and certain amendments made to the obligations imposed on distributive undertakings pursuant to recommendation No 1835/81/ECSC;

Whereas, by virtue of the minimum of 12 000 tonnes per annum referred to in the second indent of Article 2 (1) of recommendation No 1835/81/ECSC, steel dealers in the various Community markets are not subjected in the same way to the obligations under that recommendation, with the result that there are discrepancies between Community regions; whereas, furthermore, during the fourth quarter of 1981 a number of steel dealers, whose sales fell below this limit, increased their share of the market considerably to the detriment of dealers who resold more than 12 000 tonnes; whereas the provisions adopted by the Commission must not have the effect of transferring activity in this way; whereas the limit of 12 000 tonnes per annum should therefore be reduced; whereas, in view of the high prices of special steels and the fact that they are normally resold in smaller quantities, a specific annual resale tonnage limit should be laid down for dealers who sell only these products;

Whereas the wording of the first indent of Article 2 (1) of recommendation No 1835/81/ECSC is ambiguous and therefore needs to be clarified and made more specific;

Whereas, like undertakings, dealers can be exempted from the obligation to publish price lists and conditions of sale in respect of certain types of steel or products in cases where, because of incomparability, publication of price lists is of no practical value, or where there is only a limited number of buyers and sellers of such steels and products and market transparency is obtained even without publication, or where such steels and products are in direct competition with other products not covered by the ECSC Treaty;

Whereas the Commission has renewed for 1982 the arrangements which it has concluded since 1978 with a number of third countries; whereas, for the reasons given in Decision No 527/78/ECSC (3), as last amended by Decision No 957/82/ECSC (4), it has prohibited steelmakers from aligning their prices on those of these third countries;

Whereas, for the same reasons and in view of the unity of the Community steel market in which dealers play a considerable part, alignment prohibitions must apply equally to distributive undertakings; whereas there appears to be a need for this prohibition if the objectives of the Treaty, as defined in Article 3 thereof, are to be achieved in the operation of the common steel market; whereas the Treaty makes no provision in this respect; whereas the first paragraph of Article 95 must therefore be brought into play;

Whereas, with regard to the penalties imposed on distributive undertakings contravening the obligations provided for by recommendation No 1835/81/ECSC, it is sufficient, in order to achieve the objectives of that recommendation, to oblige Member States to make provision for suitable penalties; whereas, if it is to be aware of the current situation in the steel trade, the Commission must be informed periodically about the implementation by the Member States of the provisions taken in this respect;

Whereas, because of the unforeseen amendments to recommendation No 1835/81/ECSC which will create difficulties for the Member States when they are preparing to implement it, the date at which they must implement the recommendation must be deferred; whereas, for the same reasons, the period within which the Member States must inform the Commission of the provisions taken to implement the recommendation must be extended;

After consulting the Consultative Committee and with the assent of the Council acting unanimously in respect of the prohibition on alignment,

HAS ADOPTED THIS RECOMMENDATION:

Article 1

Recommendation No 1835/81/ECSC is hereby amended as follows:

1. Article 1 is replaced by the following:

'Article 1

The Member States shall, from 1 January 1983 to 30 June 1984, put into effect measures to ensure that the steel distributive undertakings referred to in Article 2 are subject to the obligations under this recommendation and to secure observance of these obligations by means of appropriate inspection measures and fines.

The Member States shall inform the Commission of the measures they have taken not later than 1 October 1982.'

2. The first two indents of Article 2 (1) are replaced by the following:

'- they obtain the steel in total or in part either directly from Community steelmakers, or from third countries,

and

- their steel resale figures, combined, where appropriate, with the steel resale figures of their parent and/or subsidiary companies and branches, involve a minimum of 3 000 tonnes per year of special steels or 6 000 tonnes per year of all steels, based on the figures for the last financial year,'.

3. The following paragraph 4 is hereby added to Article 2:

'4. Non-alloy steels and alloy steels defined as special steels in sections 5.2.3 and 5.3.3 of Euronorm 20-74 shall be considered as "special steels" within the meaning of this recommendation.'

4. The existing text of Article 8 hereby becomes paragraph 1 of that Article and the following paragraph 2 is added:

'2. Steel dealers need not publish price lists in respect of steel products for which steelmakers are not required to publish price lists and conditions of sale pursuant to Decisions No 31-53 (1) and No 37-54 (2), as last amended by Decision 72/441/ECSC (3) and Decision No 21-63 (4) respectively.

(1) OJ of the ECSC, 4. 5. 1953, p. 111.

(2) OJ of the ECSC, 1. 8. 1954, p. 470.

(3) OJ No L 297, 30. 12. 1972, p. 42.

(4) OJ No 187, 24. 12. 1963, p. 2973/63.'

5. The following paragraph 5 is added to Article 13:

'5. Steel dealers must observe the prohibitions, which apply to Community undertakings, concerning alignment of their prices on quotations from third countries, in the same way as those currently imposed pursuant to Decision No 527/78/ECSC.'

6. Article 16 is hereby replaced by the following:

'Article 16

The Member States shall be obliged to inform the Commission periodically, and at least once each quarter, about checks carried out, any irregularities found and any penalties imposed.'

Article 2

This recommendation shall be notified to the Member States and published in the Official Journal of the European Communities.

Done at Brussels, 11 June 1982.

For the Commission

Étienne DAVIGNON

Vice-President

(1) OJ No L 184, 4. 7. 1981, p. 9.

(2) OJ No L 184, 4. 7. 1981, p. 13.

(3) OJ No L 73, 15. 3. 1978, p. 16.

(4) OJ No L 114, 28. 4. 1982, p. 5.