No C 25/8 Official Journal of the European Communities 28. 1. 85 
Opinion on the 17th Council Directive on the harmonization of the laws of the Member 
States relating to turnover taxes — Exemption from value added tax on the temporary 
importation of goods other than means of transport (') 
(85/C 25/04) 
On 5 September 1984 the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social 
Committee under Article 100 of the Treaty establishing the European Economic 
Community on the abovementioned proposal. 
The Section for Industry, Commerce, Crafts and Services, which was responsible for 
preparing the Committee's work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 31 October 
1984 in the light of the report by Mr Broicher. 
At its 221st plenary session held on 21 and 22 November 1984 (meeting of 21 Novem­
ber 1984) the Economic and Social Committee unanimously adopted the following 
opinion: 
1. General comments 
The draft Directive sets out VAT provisions to com­
plement the customs provisions laid down in Regu­
lation (EEC) No 3599/82 dealing with exemption 
from duty on temporarily imported goods. 
The Committee welcomes the Commission's draft 
document for the following reasons: 
— it will help to remove tax barriers to intra-Com-
munity trade in goods, 
— it aligns tax law on customs law as regards trade 
in goods with third countries. 
The Committee does, however, regret that the Com­
mission has not been sufficiently resolute in pursu­
ing the aim of greater liberalization of trade in 
goods. 
2. Specific comments 
2.1. Article 3(1) 
The Committee considers that no security should be 
required in the case of temporary imports from 
another Member State. Dropping this requirement 
would be a further step towards the creation of a 
internal market in the Community. 
2.2. Article 3 (3a) and (3b) 
The Committee recommends that these paragraphs 
be deleted as the question of security has already 
been definitively regulated in the Regulations cited 
and the provisions do not therefore need to be 
(') OJ No C 244, 13. 9. 1984, p. 4. repeated here. The fact that these provisions are set 
out again here could give rise to the mistaken belief 
that the goods which are subject to the special provi­
sions (professional equipment, trade fair goods and 
samples) are exempt from the need to provide secur­
ity under the general arrangements governing tem­
porary imports, even when recourse is not had to the 
carnet formalities. This would, however, undermine 
the recently adopted Regulation (EEC) No 3/84 and 
the ATA carnet. 
2.3. Article 3 (3 c) 
The Committee has reservations about the proposal 
to exempt from the requirement to provide security 
only works of art from amongst the goods covered 
by Article 27, at least as far as temporary imports 
from another Member State are concerned. The 
Committee accepts the need for some differentia­
tion, for example on social or cultural grounds. In 
view of the principle of Community preference the 
Committee does, however, consider that there are 
grounds for excluding all of the goods listed in 
Article 27 from the requirement to provide security. 
2.4. Article 4 
The Committee considers that Article 4 (1) should be 
deleted in the interests of further progress towards 
the establishment of the common market, particu­
larly as Article 4 (2) makes provision for inspec­
tions. 
2.5. Article 6 
These provisions should be reworded to make them 
more readily understandable and to clarify the dif­
ferences between paragraphs 1 and 2. 
28. 1. 85 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 25/9 
2.6. Article 8 (2) 
The Committee recommends that the words 'at the 
time when the goods enter the territory of the Mem­
ber State' be replaced by 'at the time when tempo­
rary importation is authorized'. Only this latter time 
can be precisely determined and it is more in line 
with the provisions of Article 3(1). 
Done at Brussels, 21 November 1984. 
The Committee endorses the Commission proposals 
and has the following comments to make: 
1. The Committee reiterates the view expressed in 
earlier opinions that thermonuclear fusion can be of 
immense significance as a potential future energy 
source, and that considerable Community efforts to 
develop this future source are therefore both neces­
sary and justified. 
2. This is so despite the fact that the road to com­
mercial application will be very long and costly, pre­
supposing the solution of extremely difficult techni­
cal problems. However, the enormous long-term en­
ergy potential appears to justify considerable effort, 
although it is unlikely that commercial fusion energy 
will be in general use within the next 50 years. 
(') OJ No C 198, 27. 7. 1984, p. 3. 2.7. Article 19 (b) 
The relevant customs regulation refers to public 
showings for profit. The present draft Directive 
should therefore also permit a charge to cover 
costs. 
The Chairman 
of the Economic and Social Committee 
Gerd MUHR 
3. We should be under no illusions about the fact 
that we are still at the first of the three major stages 
in the development of fusion energy, which are: 
— demonstration of scientific feasibility, 
— demonstration of technical feasibility, 
— demonstration of commercial viability. 
Progress must therefore be continually assessed at 
reasonable intervals and prospects for success set 
against costs in order to arrive at strategic deci­
sions. 
4. A strategic decision of this kind is not necessary 
for the current revision of the programme. It will 
however be required for the next revision in 1988, 
when a decision will have to be taken, on the basis 
of the results of the JET experiments then available, Opinion on the proposal for a Council Decision adopting a research and training pro­
gramme (1985 to 1989) in the field of controlled thermonuclear fusion (•) and the propo­
sal for a Council Decision complementing Council Decision 84/1/Euratom, EEC of 
22 December 1983 — Realization of tritium handling laboratory 
(85/C 25/05) 
On 5 June 1984 the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, 
under Article 7 of the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community, 
on the abovementioned proposals. 
The Section for Energy and Nuclear Questions, which was responsible for preparing 
the Commitee's work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 12 November 1984 in the 
light of the report by Mr von der Decken. 
At its 221st plenary session (meeting of 21 November 1984) the Economic and Social 
Committee adopted the following opinion unanimously: