25.9.73 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities NoL268/17
II
(Actswhosepublicationisnotobligatory)
COMMISSION
COMMISSION DECISION
of17August1973
authorizingtheKingdomofBelgium,theGrandDuchyofLuxembourgandthe
KingdomoftheNetherlandsnottoapplyCommunitytreatmenttomen's
cottonshirtsfallingwithinheadingNoex61.03oftheCommonCustomsTariff
whichoriginateinHungaryandareputintofreecirculationintheFederal
RepublicofGermany
(OnlytheFrenchandDutchtextsareauthentic)
(73/288/EEC)
THECOMMISSION OFTHEEUROPEAN
COMMUNITIES ,
HavingregardtotheTreatyestablishingtheEuropean
EconomicCommunity ,andinparticularthefirstpara­
graphofArticle115thereof;
Havingregardtotheapplicationunderthefirstpara­
graphofArticle115oftheTreatymadeon6August
1973bytheNetherlandsGovernment ,inagreement
withtheBelgianandLuxembourgGovernments ,to
theCommissionbytelexfromtheofficeofitsPerma­
nentRepresentative totheEuropeanCommunities ,
thattheMemberStatesoftheBeneluxbeauthorized
nottoapplyCommunitytreatmenttomen'scotton
shirtsfallingwithinheadingNoex61.03ofthe
CommonCustomsTariffwhichoriginateinHungary
andareputintofreecirculationintheFederalRepu­
blicofGermany ;
WhereasinsupportofitsapplicationtheNetherlands
Government assertedthatfortheMemberStatesof
theBeneluxthisisasensitiveproduct,imports
whereoffromEasternEuropeareforeconomic
reasonssubjecttoaglobalquota;whereastheglobal
quotawasexceededbyalmost50%bytheimporta­
tionofproductsoriginatinginthesecountriesandput
intofreecirculationintheotherMemberStates;
Whereasthe1973quotaforthisproductopened
undertheTradeAgreementof23November1971for
tradebetweenHungaryandtheBeneluxhasalsobeen
exhaustedandwhereas,inadditiontothisquota,
importsofthesameproductsinfreecirculationinthe
otherMemberStateshavealreadybeenauthorizedto
anamountofnearlyone-thirdofthequota;Whereastherequestforanimportlicencetowhich
theapplicationrelatesisforanamountofabout13%
ofthequotawhilstthepriceoftheproducts
concernedis25%lessthanthepriceontheBenelux
markets;whereasthissituationendangerstherelevant
industriesoftheBenelux;
Whereason14August1973theNetherlandsGovern­
ment,inatelexfromtheofficeofitsPermanent
Representative ,furnishedadditionalinformationin
supportofitsapplicationshowingthatinrecentyears
theproductionofcottonshirts,thenumberof
workersandundertakings inthissectorhasgreatly
decreased ;whereasthepricesofimportsoriginating
inEasternEuropearegenerallyabout50%lower
thancomparablepricesontheBeneluxmarkets;
whereastheMemberStatesoftheBeneluxpursuantto
thepriceclausesintheirTradeAgreementwiththe
countriesofEasternEuropecantakeactionagainst
directimportsatpriceswhicharetoolow;whereas
pricesareconsideredtoolowwhentheyareatleast
10%belowinternalprices;whereas,ifnoprotective
measuresexist,importsoftheseproductsbyreasonof
theirfreecirculationintheotherMemberStateswill
seriouslythreatentheBeneluxindustryandwillcause
productiontodecreaseevenmoretogetherwiththe
resultantsocialconsequences ;
Whereastherequestforanimportlicencetowhich
theapplicationrelatesisformen'scottonshirtsorigi­
natinginHungaryandputintofreecirculationinthe
FederalRepublicofGermany ;whereasimportsof
theseproductsintotheFederalRepublicofGermany
areadmittedwithinthelimitsofthequantitative
quotaprovidedforbythe1973TradeProtocol

NoL268/18 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities 25.9.73
measuresmightbetakenbytheCommunityorthe
MemberStatestoimprovethesituation;whereassuch
protectivemeasuresshouldconsistinnotapplying
Communitytreatmenttoimportswhosepriceisat
least10%lowerthanthepricesontheinternal
market;
Whereastherequestforanimportlicencetowhich
theapplicationrelatesisfortoolimitedanamount,
comparedwiththetotalproductionandconsumption
oftheseproductsintheBenelux,forthisimportalone
toaffectthemarketpriceintheBenelux;whereas
thereforethereisinsufficientjustificationforsuch
authorization alsotoapplytothisimport;whereas,
accordingtoinformationsuppliedtotheCommission ,
therearenootheroutstandingapplicationsforimport
licencesforthesameproductslodgedwiththeauthori­
tiesoftheapplicantMemberStates;whereasthe
protectivemeasuresshouldbeauthorizedonlyfor
productsinrespectofwhichanapplicationforan
importlicenceislodgedafter16August1973;
HASADOPTEDTHISDECISION :
Article1betweentheFederalRepublicofGermanyand
Hungary;whereasthatquota,whichisconsiderably
largerthanthatprovidedforbythe1972Protocol,
wasnegotiatedinaccordancewiththeconclusions
obtainedfromthepriorconsultationprovidedforin
TitleIIIoftheCouncilDecision(J)of16December
1969andadoptedasaguidelinefornegotiationsby
theCouncilDecisionof14March1973;whereas
underArticle10oftheaforementioned Decision,this
consultation involvessuchcoordination aswillensure
theproperfunctioning andthestrength­
eningoftheCommonMarket,asregardsboth
importsandthegrowthofexportsandwillcontribute
towardstheestablishment ofuniformprinciplesof
commoncommercialpolicyinrelationtothecountry
inquestion;
Whereasitcanthereforebepresumedthatimportsby
theFederalRepublicofGermanyunderthequotain
questionwillnotbelikelytopreventtheMember
Statesfromapplying,inaccordancewiththeTreaty,
commercialpolicymeasurestothesameproductsin
relationtothesamethirdcountryortocause
economicdifficultiesintheotherMemberStates;
Whereas,however,fromtheinformationsuppliedby
theGovernments concerneditappearsthatcertain
economicdifficultiesdoexistastheresultofasize­
ablereductioninproduction ,andinthenumbersof
personsemployedandofundertakings intheshirt
industry;whereaslow-pricedimportsoftheproducts
inquestionoriginatinginHungaryandputintofree
circulationintheFederalRepublicofGermanycould
giverisetofurthereconomicdifficultiesandhave
socialconsequences ;
Whereassucheconomicdifficultiesareduetothe
differencesbetweenmeasuresofcommercialpolicy,in
particularasregardsprices,whichareappliedbythe
MemberStatesoftheBeneluxontheonehandand
theFederalRepublicofGermanyontheotherto
importsoftheproductsinquestionoriginatinginand
comingfromHungary;whereas,however,these
economicdifficultiesdonotappeartobedueto
importsfromMemberStatesotherthantheFederal
RepublicofGermany,andtheGovernments
concernedhavenotclaimedthatsuchisthecase;
Whereasitisimpossibletoensurethat,inthenear
future,otherMemberStatesandinparticularthe
FederalRepublicofGermanywillcooperateinthe
mannerdesired—whereappropriate ,overprices—
inordertoovercometheseeconomicdifficulties ;
Whereasinthesecircumstances itisnecessarytoauth­
orizetheMemberStatesoftheBeneluxtotake
temporaryprotectivemeasuresforalimitedperiodto
enabletheCommission ,inconsultation withthe
MemberStatesconcerned,toexaminedevelopments
intheshirtindustryandwhatotherremedialTheKingdomofBelgium,TheGrandDuchyof
LuxembourgandtheKingdomoftheNetherlandsare
authorizednottoapplyCommunitytreatmentto
importsofmen'scottonshirtsfallingwithinheading
Noex61.03oftheCommonCustomsTariffwhere
theyoriginateinHungaryandareinfreecirculation
intheFederalRepublicofGermany,withtheexcep­
tionofproductsforwhichthepricechargedtothe
consumerisnotatleast10%higherthantheprice
forsimilarproductsonthemarketoftheseMember
States.
Thisauthorization appliestoimportsinrespectof
whichapplicationsforimportlicenceswerelodged
after16August1973.
Article2
ThisDecisionshallapplyuntil31October1973.
Article3
ThisDecisionisaddressedtotheKingdomof
Belgium,theGrandDuchyofLuxembourgandthe
KingdomoftheNetherlands .
DoneatBrussels,17August1973.
FortheCommission
ThePresident
Francois-Xavier ORTOLI
(')O|NoLMix1L>.12.146V,p.W