26.2.77 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities NoL54/39
COMMISSION
COMMISSION DECISION
of17February1977
concerninganaidforthepigmeatsectorintheUnitedKingdomofGreat
BritainandNorthernIreland
(OnlytheEnglishtextisauthentic)
(77/172/EEC)
THECOMMISSION OFTHEEUROPEAN
COMMUNITIES ,
HavingregardtotheTreatyestablishingtheEuropean
EconomicCommunity ,andinparticularthefirstsub­
paragraphofArticle93(2)thereof,
HavingregardtoCouncilRegulation (EEC)No
2759/75of29October1975onthecommonorganiza­
tionofthemarketinpigmeat('),andinparticular
Article21thereof,
Havingregardtotheobservationssubmittedbythe
partiesconcerned(2),
Whereas,byaletterfromtheOfficeofitsPermanent
Representative totheEuropeanCommunities dated
19January1977andreceivedbytheCommissionon
20January1977,theGovernment oftheUnited
KingdomofGreatBritainandNorthernIreland
informedtheCommissionunderArticle93(3)ofthe
Treatyofitsintentiontograntfrom31January1977,
foranunspecifiedperiod,atemporarysubsidyof
approximately 5-5penceperkilogramdeadweightto
pigproducers,andfurtherthattheaidwouldbe
announcedpubliclybytheBritishMinistryofAgricul­
tureon20January1977;
WhereastheCommission ,takingtheviewthatthis
schemewasnotcompatiblewiththecommonmarket
underArticle92oftheTreaty,beganproceedings
underArticle93(2)inrespectthereofon25January
1977;
Whereasthetrendinthepigbreedingherdinthe
UnitedKingdomrunsparalleltothatintheother
Communitycountries,whichiscurrentlyundergoing
acyclicalincreaseinvolvingintheshortterman
increaseinthepigsupply;Whereasthatsupplyisalreadyinsurplusinthe
Communityasawhole,andislikelytoremainsofor
sometime;
Whereasthereforebyfavouringpigmeatproductionin
theUnitedKingdomtheaidinquestionthreatensto
distortcompetitionintheCommunity ;
WhereasmoreovertheUnitedKingdomin1975
imported675000tonnes(511000tonnesinthefirst
ninemonths)ofpigmeatproducts,ofwhich587000
tonnes(443000tonnesinthefirstninemonths)were
fromotherMemberStates;whereasinthefirstnine
monthsof1976theUnitedKingdomimported
490000tonnesthereof,ofwhich438000tonneswere
fromotherMemberStates;whereastheUnited
KingdomisthustheCommunity'slargestimporterof
pigmeatproducts;
Whereastherewasnoabnormalriseinimports
between1975and1976notwithstanding thefactthat,
accordingtotheBritishauthorities,themonetary
compensatory amountswereexcessive;whereas,in
thiscontext,themeasurecouldaffectintra-Commu­
nitytradetoaconsiderableextent,inparticular
becauseitputsimportsfromotherMemberStatesata
disadvantage ;
Whereastheproposedmeasureaccordinglyiscovered
bytheprohibitionlaiddowninArticle92(1)ofthe
Treaty;
WhereasaidintroducedbytheBritishauthorities
appliesthroughouttheUnitedKingdom;whereasit
isgrantedaccordingtotheamountsproducedandis
aimednotatthelastingdevelopmentofproduction
butatitstemporaryprotectionagainstcompetition
fromotherMemberStates;whereasassuchitratesas
anaidtothefunctioningoftheenterprisesinthe(')OJNoL282,1.11.1975,p.1.
(2)SeeinparticularOJNoC22,29.1.1977.

NoL54/40 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities 26.2.77
Commission ,totheeffectthattheyconsiderthatthe
measuretakenbytheUnitedKingdomthreatensto
distortcompetitionandaffectstradebetweenMember
Stateswithoutassistingthedevelopmentofthesector
inquestion;whereasthoseMemberStateswhichhave
submittedtheirobservationsareextremelyconcerned
aboutthesaidaidandareurgingtheCommissionto
takeactionagainstitwiththeutmostexpedition ;
Whereas,furthermore ,thegrantingofthesaidaid
notifiedtotheCommissionon20January1977was
announcedpubliclyonthesamedaybytheBritish
MinistryofAgriculturewithoutanyreferencetothe
needforitsacceptancebytheCommission ;whereas
initsletterof4February1977theGovernmentofthe
UnitedKingdomstatedthatithadbroughtthe
measureinquestionintoforce;whereasinsodoingit
failedtoinformtheCommission insufficienttimeas
requiredbythefirstsentenceofArticle93(3)ofthe
Treaty;whereasbyputtingthemeasureintoforce
aftertheCommissionhadbegunproceedingsunder
Article93(2)oftheTreatytheGovernmentofthe
UnitedKingdomisinbreachofthethirdsentenceof
Article93(3)oftheTreaty;whereasthemeasurein
questionisthereforeillegalunderCommunitylaw;
WhereasthedecisionsoftheCourtofJusticeshow
thattheprohibitionagainstputtingaproposed
measureofaidintoeffectcontainedinthelast
sentenceofArticle93(3)oftheTreatyhasadirect
effectintheinternallegalsystemoftheMember
States;
Whereas,thisbeingso,noperiodoftimeshouldbe
allowedfortheBritishGovernment todiscontinue its
aid;
WhereastheGovernmentoftheUnitedKingdom
madeapplicationtotheCouncilbyletterdated4
February1977,underthethirdsubparagraph of
Article93(2)oftheTreaty,foradecisionthatthesaid
aidbeconsideredtobecompatiblewiththecommon
market,inderogationfromtheprovisionofArticle
92;whereasthisapplicationwasrejectedbythe
Councilatitsmeetingsof8,14and15February
1977;whereastheprocedureprovidedforinthefirst
subparagraph ofArticle93(2),whichwassuspended
byvirtueoftheapplication,maynowberesumed,sectorconcernedandthusisatypeofaidwhichthe
Commissionhasalways,inprinciple,condemned ;
Whereassuchaidstofunctioning ,whicharenot
grantedsubjecttoconditionscalculatedtogivethema
development effect,cannotqualifyforanyofthe
exemptionsfromprohibitionprovidedforunder
Article92(3)(a)and(c)oftheTreaty;
Whereastheaidinquestionclearlydoesnotmeetthe
conditionsrequiredforittoqualifyfortheexemp­
tionsprovidedforunderArticle92(2)oftheTreaty;
whereasinadditionitcannotqualifyfortheexemp­
tionprovidedforunderArticle92(3)(b),since,being
grantedinrespectonlyofonesectoroftheBritish
economy,asectorwhichonlyconstitutesasmallpart
ofthegrossnationalproduct,itisnotcalculatedto
remedyaseriousdisturbanceofthateconomy;
Whereasmoreoverananalysisofthepigmeatsector
intheUnitedKingdomshowsthattheaveragesizeof
pig-rearingestablishments standsat170head,
comparedwithaCommunityaverageof26head;
whereasinthelastquarterof1976thepriceaverage
forpigcarcasesconvertedattheofficialrateswas
126-7unitsofaccountper100kilogramsinthe
UnitedKingdomand115-6unitsofaccountinthe
Community ;whereasthemonthlyaverageslaughter
ofsowsandboarsintheUnitedKingdominthelast
quarterof1976was37000head,comparedwitha
monthlyaverageof47000inthecrisismonthsofthe
firstquarterof1974;
Whereassuchanalysisdoesnotthereforeindicatean
abnormalsituationbyreferencetothecyclicalfluctua­
tionswhichmaybeexpectedinthissector,and
consequentlythereasonsfortheinterventionbythe
GovernmentoftheUnitedKingdomcannotbejusti­
fied;
Whereasinitsobservationsof4February1977the
GovernmentoftheUnitedKingdomdrewtheatten­
tionoftheCommissiontothedisruptingeffectofthe
methodofcalculationofthemonetarycompensatory
amountsinthepigmeatsector,andtothecompati­
bility,asitseesit,oftheaidinquestionwiththe
commonmarketunderArticle92oftheTreaty;
Whereastheseobservations ,andsimilarobservations
submittedbyanotherUKpartyconcerned,containno
newmattersonthestrengthofwhichtheCommis­
sioncouldchangeitsposition;whereas,inparticular,
themethodofcalculationofthemonetarycompensa­
toryamounts,whichiseffectedinaccordancewith
theCommunityrulesinforce,cannotpossiblybe
regardedasareasonforgrantinganationalaid;
WhereascertainMemberStatesandotherparties
concernedhavesubmittedtheirobservations totheHASADOPTEDTHISDECISION :
Article1
TheUnitedKingdomofGreatBritainandNorthern
Irelandshallforthwithterminatetheprovisionofthe
aidin.theformofasubsidytopigproducerstheplan

26.2.77 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities NoL54/41
forwhichwasnotifiedtotheCommissionbyletter
dated19January1977.
Article2
ThisDecisionisaddressedtotheUnitedKingdomof
GreatBritainandNorthernIreland.DoneatBrussels,17February1977.
FortheCommission
FinnGUNDELACH
Vice-President