ARCHIVESHISTORIQUES
DELACOMMISSION
COLLECTION RELIEE DES
DOCUMENTS "COM"
COM (75)110
Vol.1975/9007

Disclaimer
Conformément aurèglement(CEE,Euratom)n°354/83duConseildu1erfévrier1983
concernantl'ouvertureaupublicdesarchiveshistoriquesdelaCommunauté économique
européenneetdelaCommunautéeuropéennedel'énergieatomique(JOL43du15.2.1983,
p.1),telquemodifiéparlerèglement(CE,Euratom)n°1700/2003du22septembre2003
(JOL243du27.9.2003,p.1),cedossierestouvertaupublic.Lecaséchéant,lesdocuments
classifiésprésentsdanscedossierontétédéclassifiésconformément àl'article5dudit
règlement.
InaccordancewithCouncilRegulation(EEC,Euratom)No354/83of1February1983
concerningtheopeningtothepublicofthehistoricalarchivesoftheEuropeanEconomic
CommunityandtheEuropeanAtomicEnergyCommunity(OJL43,15.2.1983,p.1),as
amendedbyRegulation(EC,Euratom)No1700/2003of22September2003(OJL243,
27.9.2003,p.1),thisfileisopentothepublic.Wherenecessary,classifieddocumentsinthis
filehavebeendeclassified inconformitywithArticle5oftheaforementioned regulation.
InÜbereinstimmung mitderVerordnung(EWG,Euratom)Nr.354/83desRatesvom1.
Februar1983überdieFreigabederhistorischen ArchivederEuropäischen
Wirtschaftsgemeinschaft undderEuropäischen Atomgemeinschaft (ABI.L43vom15.2.1983,
S.1),geändertdurchdieVerordnung(EG,Euratom)Nr.1700/2003vom22.September2003
(ABI.L243vom27.9.2003,S.1),istdieseDateiderÖffentlichkeitzugänglich.Soweit
erforderlich,wurdendieVerschlusssachen indieserDateiinÜbereinstimmung mitArtikel5
dergenanntenVerordnungfreigegeben.

COMMISSION
OFTHF
EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
SecretariatCOM(75)110 final
Brussels ,17March 1975
CONFIDENTIAL
COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TOTHE COUNCIL
onadeclaration proposed "bytheCouncil
concerning thegeneral application oftheconsultation procedure
inrespect ofcooperation agreements between Member States
andthird countries ,introduced bytheCouncil Decision of22July 1974 »
COM(75 )HOfinal

COUP IDEM 1ÏAL
Communication from the Commission
to "the Council
1. TheCouncil ,acting onaproposal from theCommission ,adopted
on22July 1974 adecision establishing an 'information and -consultation
procedure ...forcooperation agreements between Member States andthird
countries .
Asisstated inthe Commission 'scommunication tothe Council
ofOctober 1973 ,oneofthereasons behind theCommission 'sproposal
wastheproliferation ofwide-ranging cooperation agreements between
Member States andthird countries andtheir major consequences for
theCommunity 'strading relations .TheCommission 'sproposal wasaimed
atinstituting amechanism ,bymeans ofwhich therespect andcohesion
ofCommunity common policies ,andmore particularly thecommon commei >-
cial policy ,would beensured andwhere amutual exchange ofinformation
could take place with aview toarriving atacoordinated andharmonised
approach intheCommunity 'srelations with third countries .These aims
are included inthe above-mentioned Council decision where itisstated
that themain purposes oftheconsultation procedures are :
-to .ensure that theagreements ,commitments andmeasures referred
toinArticle 1areconsistent with common policies end in
particular thecommon commercial policy ;
-tofacilitate theexchange ofinformation andviews inorder
toidentify problems ofcommon interest andinview ofthese ,
toencourage coordination ,where appropriate ,oftheactivities
oftheMember States with regard tothird countries concerned ,
2. Theminutes oftheCouncil meeting ,during which theabove
decision wasadopted ,record adeclaration-made bytheCouncil ,limiting
themandatory nature ofArticles 2,3and4ofthedecision tothose
agreements concluded with State –trading countries aswell asoil–

-2-
producing countries .Thesame declaration ctates ,however ,that this
limitation would "betemporary andthat theCouncil would take adecision
"before 31March 1975 °nthis question .
TheCommission proposes that thetemporary limitation ofthe
scope ofapplication ofthemandatory nature ofArticles 2,3and4
oftheCouncil decision of22July 1974 benowlifted andthat the
decision "beapplicable initsentirety tocooperation agreements con­
cluded byMember States with allthird countries .
Itmust berecalled ,asalready stated bytheCommission ,that
cooperation agreements ,which arefast becoming amajor instrument
ininternational economic relations ,arenolonger confined asbefore
toagreements with State-trading oroil-producing countries .Infact ,
notonly arecooperation agreements being concluded with awider range
ofcountries ,but itisalso anincreasingly recurring feature that
thecontent ofsuch agreements iswidening toinclude general across -
the-board cooperation .
Since oneoftheobjectives oftheconsultation mechanism is
topromote thecoheeiveness oftheCommunity *scommon commercial policy
andensure that those cooperation agreements concluded between Member
States andthird countries arecompatible with Community common poli­
cies ,thedanger inherent inallowing acontinuation ofthelimitation
ofthescope ofapplication ofthemandatory nature ofArticles 2,
3and4oftheabove-mentioned Council decision isevident andcertain
toincrease .
Hence itisessential that theconsultation procedure beapplied
erga omnes assoon aspossible .
TheCommission therefore proposes ,inaccordance with the
declaration recorded intheminutes oftheCouncil meeting of22July
1974 iwhich obliges theCouncil toactbefore 31March 1975 »that
theCouncil agrees onthefollowing declaration :
"Thedeclaration recorded intheminutes oftheCouncil meeting
of22July 1974 concerning thegeographical application of
Articles 2,3and4oftheCouncil decision oftheabove date
is .hereby rescinded ."