24. 12. 84 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 343/27 
Opinion on the proposal from the Commission to the Council fixing the Community's 
generalized tariff preferences scheme for 1985 (') 
(84/C 343/06) 
On 30 July 1984 the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, 
under Article 198 of the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, on 
the abovementioned proposal. 
The Section for External Relations, which was responsible for preparing the Com­
mittee's work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 9 October 1984 in the light of the 
report by Mr Cremer. 
At its 220th plenary session (meeting of 25 October 1984) the Economic and Social 
Committee adopted the following opinion by a unanimous vote. 
1. The Economic and Social Committee observes 
that the Commission, in framing its proposals for 
the 1985 GSP, is pursuing its attempts to safeguard 
Community economic interests while making allow­
ance for the serious difficulties with which most 
LDCs have to contend. — the circumstances of the country or group of 
countries involved, 
lay down clearcut implementing arrangements 
for the GSP, especially as regards rules or ori­
gin, so as to enhance transparency and the 
potential advantages for GSP beneficiary coun­
tries. 
2. The Committee remains convinced that, despite 
the general acceptability of the aims set for the 
Community GSP, its impact in terms of boosting 
development in the most needy LDCs is still ques­
tionable. 4. The list of these countries should be revised so 
that it can be used as an instrument of development 
policy. Countries which fail to satisfy established 
criteria could thus be excluded. 
On the distribution of quotas for quota-tied imports 
among the Member States, the Committee would 
prefer to retain the present key and to wait until the 
time comes to discuss the new scheme for the next 
five-year period before examining the new key pro­
posed by the Commission. 
3. The Committee also commends, already at this 
stage, that the Commission proposals for the next 
five-year period: 
— make full use of the GSP's potential as an effec­
tive development aid instrument, devised to 
encourage economic growth in the LDCs, 
— ensure greater selectivity by gearing preferences 
to: 
— the sensitivity of the products concerned, 5. The Committee requests the Commission to 
study the possibility of the next system including a 
clause about the observance of minimum labour 
standards and human rights in the partner countries. 
6. As regards the earlier proposal for setting up a 
GSP management committee, the Committee does 
not think that a special body is necessary. Socio­
economic interest groups should be able to take a 
stand on the Commission's annual proposals in the 
light of the sensitivity of the products in question. 
In this connection, the Committee would reiterate 
its previous comments about the timetable for con­
sulting the Economic and Social Committee and the 
need for early publication by the Commission of the 
statistics on the Community's GSP imports, broken 
down according to country of origin. 
Done at Brussels, 25 October 1984. 
The Chairman 
of the Economic and Social Committee 
Gerd MUHR 
(') OJ No C 294, 5. 11. 1984.