8 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities
1234/62 OFFICIALJOURNALOFTHEEUROPEANCOMMUNITIES 17.5.62
COMMISSION DECISION ,
authorizingSpecialTariffNos208and219oftheItalianStateRailways
(OnlytheItaliantextisauthentic)
THECOMMISSION OFTHEEUROPEAN
ECONOMIC COMMUNITY ,
HavingregardtotheTreaty^establishingtheEuro­
peanEconomicCommunity,andinparticularArticle
80thereof;
HavingregardtotheProtocolonItalyannexedto
thatTreaty;
HavingregardtoTariffNos208and219oftheIta­
lianRailways(FS)intheircurrentversions,aslaid
downinDecretodileggeNo9of25January1940,
promulgated asLawNo674of13May1940,con­
cerningpowersinrespectoftheintroduction ,amend­
mentanddiscontinuance ofgoodsratesontheFS,
andinsubsequentdecreesenactedunderthatLaw;
HavingregardtotheviewsexpressedbytheItalian
Government inthecourseoftheconsultations held
bytheCommissioninBrusselson13November1961
inaccordancewithArticle80(2);nearly25-5%ofthetotalItalianproductionoffire­
woodisprovidedbythesouthernItalianforestry
industry,andchieflybythatofCalabria,which
figuresamongtheeconomicallyleast-developed re­
gionsofItaly;whereastheconsumptioncentreslie
mainlyinthenorthofthecountry;whereasinconse­
quencetheaveragedistancecarriedforproducts
coveredbythistariffexceeds900km;whereasas
comparedwiththegeneraltariff,thistariffgives
reductionsvaryingbetween2-5%and18%accord­
ingtothedistancecarriedandtotheweightofthe
consignment ;
WhereasthevolumeofgoodscarriedbytheFS
underthesetariffsinthefinancialyear1960/61
amountedto45635metrictonsand11-5million
metrictons/kminrespectofTariffNo208,and
39967metrictonsand36-9millionmetrictons/km
inrespectofTariffNo219;
WhereastheFSreceivecompensationoutofState
fundsequaltoasubstantialproportionoftheloss
inrevenuearisingfromtheoperationofthesaid
Tariffs;I
IIWhereasSpecialTariffNo208oftheItalianState
Railways(FS)appliestothecarriageofcompressed
hayandstrawfromallstationsonorthesouthofthe
ItalianRailways'Rome-Pescara lineorinSardinia
toallstationswithinadistanceofnotmorethan500
km;whereasitoperatestotheadvantageofproducers
andusersoftheseproductswithintheregionto
whichitsscopeisconfined;whereasthepurposeof
thetariffistoencouragethetransportofhayand
strawfromsouthernItaly,whichproducesasurplus
oftheseproducts,tocentralItaly,whereproduction
doesnotmeetlocalneeds;whereas,ascompared
withthegeneraltariff,itgivesreductionsofeither
9-5%or16%accordingtotheweightoftheload;
WhereasFSSpecialTariffNo219appliestothe
carriageoffirewoodfromallstationsonortothe
southoftheItalianRailways'Rome-Pescara lineor
inSardiniatoallstationssituatedovercertainmini­
mumdistancesaway;whereas'itoperatestothead­
vantageoftheforestryindustryinsouthernItalyand
ofundertakingsproducingfirewoodthere;whereasWhereas,withoutprejudicetotheapplicabilitytoTa­
riffNos208and219ofArticle80,theItalianGov­
ernmenthassubmittedinaccordancewiththatAr­
ticle-incasetheCommission shouldconsideritto
beapplicable-anapplicationforauthorizationto
retaininoperationFSSpecialTariffNos208and
219;
WhereasTariffNos208and219applytothecar­
riageofgoodswithintheCommunity,whichincludes
aMemberState'sdomestictraffic;whereastheseTa­
riffsmustberegardedasState-imposed measures
withinthemeaningofArticle80(1),sincetheyare
laiddownbynationallawsandregulations;whereas
thetariffsconstitutesupportfortheagriculturalin­
dustryinsouthernItalycorresponding totheobjec­
tivelymeasurabledifferencebetweenratesunderthe
normaltariffsandthoseunderSpecialTariffNos
208and219;whereasthissupportisgiventospeci­
ficindustries,namelyagriculturalundertakingssitu­
atedonortothesouthoftheRome-Pescara lineor

OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities 9
IV intheItalianislands;whereas,bearinginmindthe
objectofArticle80,agriculturemustberegardedas
beinganindustrywithinthemeaningofparagraph1
ofthatArticle;whereasinconsequenceTariffNos
208and219comewithinthescopeofArticle80(1);
WhereasitisnotevenclaimedthatTariffNos208
and219aretariffsfixedtomeetcompetitionwithin
themeaningofArticle80(3);
WhereasitisthereforefortheCommissiontodecide,
inaccordancewithArticle80(2),ontheapplication
submittedbytheItalianGovernmentforauthoriza­
tion,insofarasthismayberequired,toretainin
operationTariffNos208and219;
IIIWhereasinexaminingTariffNos208and219,asre­
quiredbyArticle80(2),theCommissionmusttake
accountbothoftheconsiderations expresslysetout
inthatprovision,andalsoofthegeneralobjectives
statedinArticles2and3oftheTreaty,asinterpreted
inthelightofthePreamblethereto,andalso,inthis
instance,oftheprovisionsoftheProtocolonItaly;
whereasitisclearfromthesetextsthatharmonious
economicdevelopmentintheCommunityasawhole
entailsareductionbothinthedisparitiesbetweenits
variousregionsandintherelativebackwardness of
thelessfavouredregions,ofwhichsouthernItalyis
one,andthatitisfortheCommunity'sinstitutions
toemploythemeansandproceduresatitsdisposal
undertheTreatytofacilitatetheItalianGovern­
ment'simplementation ofitsten-yearplanforecono­
micexpansiondirectedinteraliaatthatregion;
whereastheCommissionshouldhavetheseconsider­
ationsinmindwhenexaminingtransportratesand
conditionstowhichArticle80(1)applies,sincepa­
ragraph2ofthatArticlerequiresittotakeaccount
inparticularoftherequirementsofanappropriate
regionaleconomicpolicyandoftheneedsofunder­
developedareas;
Whereasinvestigationshowsthattheareatowhich
TariffNos208and219applyfallswithintheunder­
developedareasofsouthernItalycoveredbythe
CassadelMezzogiornoprogrammeforeconomicex­
pansion,developmentofemploymentopportunities
andimprovementoflivingstandardsrwhereasthe
importanceofagriculturalproductiontotheimple­
mentationofthisprogrammeisnotdisputed;where-•
as,bearinginmindthegeographically remotesitua­
tionofsouthernItaly,itisreasonablethattheaid
necessarytothatregionshouldcoverthecarriageof
goodsandhenceTariffNos208and219appearto
beaformofsupportappropriatetotheobjectivesin
view;
WhereasTariffNos208and219asnowinforce
havenotbeenshowntoaffectcompetitionasregards
agriculturalproduceinamannernotjustifiedbythe
needsoftheunderdeveloped areainquestion;
Whereasthereisnoevidencefromtheexamination
carriedoutinaccordancewithArticle80(2)that
SpecialTariffNos208and219haveanydeleterious
effectsoncompetitionbetweenthedifferentmodes
oftransportwithinthemeaningofthatprovision;
Whereasfortheforegoingreasonsthecontinuedap­
plicationofTariffNos208and219maybeauthor­
ized;
Whereas,whilegrantingauthorizationforaninde­
terminateperiod,theCommissionretainsthepower
toamendorrevokesuchauthorization ifitfinds,of
itsownaccordorattherequestofaMemberState,
that,authorizationisnolongerjustified,WhereastheItalianGovernmentputsforwardthe
followingargumentsinsupportofitsapplication :
FSTariffsNos208and219formpartofthe'Green
Plan'drawnupbytheItalianGovernmentinorder
todevelopagricultureinsouthernItaly;theaimof
thePlan,whichisdirectedtowardsaprogressiveim­
provementinproductionandconditionsofsalein
thiseconomicsector,isinaccordancewiththe
Treaty,asarealltheeconomicandsocialconse­
quencesarisingfromthePlan;
Thetwotariffsarenecessarytoenablethecarriage
toanddistributioninnorthernandcentralItalyof
hay,strawandfirewoodoriginatingintheunder­
developedareasofsouthernItaly;theseproducts
havealowinitialvalueandtransportcostsbear
heavilyonthem;withoutthissupporttheirsales
wouldfalldrastically,tothedetrimentofthepro­
ducerareas;restrictionortotalremovaloftransport
capacityfortheseproducts,throughdiscontinuance
ofthetwotariffs,wouldinevitablyleadtoacon­
siderabledisturbanceoftheagriculturalandforestry
economyofsouthernItaly.
Thesetariffs,togetherwithotherspecialtariffsanda
seriesofmeasuresinwidelyvaryingspheres,contri­
butetothedevelopmentoftheunderdeveloped re­
gionsofItaly;theaimis,throughmodernization of
agricultureintheseareas,togetherwithprogressive
industrialization ,toraisethestandardoflivingto
theaverageobtaininginWesternEurope;thisisnot
merelyaneconomictaskbutalsoasocialtaskofthe
utmostimportance,thepoliticalaspectsofwhich
shouldnotbeoverlooked;toabolishoramendthese
tariffsisnotatpresentpossible,sincetheyareindis­
solublyboundupwiththeothermeasuresinacare­
fullythought-outsystemofmutuallycomplementary
andinteractingaids;theattainmentoftheseobjec­
tiveswouldbejeopardizediftheItalianGovern­
mentwerepreventedfromemployingallmeanshith­
ertoatitsdisposaltoresolvetheprobleminafield
wherethesuccessofsuchmeanscanbeensuredonly
bytheircoordinatedandsimultaneousapplication;

10 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities
questofaMemberState,findsthatisisnolonger
justified.HASADOPTEDTHISDECISION :
Article1
Article3ApplicationoftheItalianStateRailwaysSpecial
TariffNos208and219,asinforceon13November
1961,isherebyauthorizedwitheffectfrom1January
1962.
Article2-,ThisDecisionisaddressedtotheRepublicofItaly.
DoneatBrussels,16February1962.
FortheCommission
ThePresident
W.HALLSTEINThisDecisionmaybeamendedorrepealedifthe
Commission,actingofitsownaccordoratthere­