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DOCUMENTS "COM"
COM(81)11
Vol.1981/0003

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COMMISSION OFTHEEUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
COM(81)11final
Brussels.22ndJanuary1981
/.V ·-
COMMISSION COMMUNICATION TOTHECOUNCIL
ontheprogrammetoencourageuseof
flaxfibresforthe1980/81marketingyear
C0M(81)11final

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
Article1paragraph$ofCouncilRegulation (EEC)No2511/80onmeasuresto
encouragetheuseofflaxfibresforthe1980/81and1981/82marketingyears
providesthattheCommissionwhallforwardtotheCounciltheprogrammeof
measureswhichitproposestotake*
r
ThisCommumcatDn containstheprogrammeofmeasuresforthe1980/81marketing

COMMISSION COMMUNICATION TOTHE COUNCIL
ontheprogramme toencourage useofflax fibres forthe 1980 /81marketing year
1.Inorder toavoid animbalance between supply and forecast demand offlax
fibres following some difficulty indisposal ofthese products ,theCouncil
adopted ,on30September 1980 ,Regulation (EEC)No2511/80^^onmeasures
toencourage theuseofflax fibres forthe1980 /81and1981 /82marketing
years .Article 1ofthat Regulation makes provision formeasures to
encourage theuseofflax ,covering :
-information campaigns intheMember States ,
research into newoutlets andimproved products .
Italso lays down that these measures are tobeadopted bytheCommission
after theCommission has forwarded totheCouncil theprogramme ofmeasures
„itproposes totake .
This communication covers theprogramme ofmeasures theCommission intends
totake under Regulation (EEC )No2511 /80forthe1980 /81marketing year .
For that year ,theforecast cost ofthemeasures inquestion hasbeen fixed
at600,000 ECU ,459,000 ofwhich areprovided bykeeping back part
(7.94 ECU )oftheflat rate aidperhectare provided fortextile flax .
2.Inrecent years ,thetrend inoutlets forflax hashad thefollowing
characteristics :
-asharp fall inoverall consumption offlax fibre and linen within the
.(2)Community ,
analteration inthebalance oftotal consumption offinished products :
some articles such astechnical materials and bed linen have lost alot
ofground ,whereas others ,such asmaterial forcurtaining ,clothing ,
wall coverings andsoft luggage arerising considerably .
(1)OJNoL256 ,1.10.1980 ,p.61
(2)Consumption offinished products isvery difficult toestimate but
consumption offlax fibres intheCommunity ofNine may beputatabout
80,000 tfor1979 /80,compared with 115,000 tfor1970 /71.

-2-
TheCommission has studied this pattern moutlets for flax and feels that
anupturn inflax sales should besought in: •
-maintaining andwinning back some 'classical' outlets (where ithas
recently been proved that asustained effort inrenewal isvery
* \ %
worthwhile )and afurther increase inpenetration inthesectors which
areexpanding ;
-technical andcommercial development ofcertain improved products (for
example ,compounds offlax fibres andother fibres )andcreation ofnew
.I
products . _
- V .
TheCommission feels itcanattain the -objectives through thefollowing
• !' ■programme : ' 
A.Information campaigns
Inview ofthesmall amount offinance available and thelimited period
envisaged forthecampaign ontheonehand and ,ontheother *hand ,the
limited retail sales network forflax ,direct information campaigns aimed
atfinal consumers (campaigns aimed atthepublic using mass media )do
notappear torepresent themost suitable way ofemploying theresources
available . ,
/ ' *
Inthese circumstances ,the effort should beconcentrated ontrade
circles who 'guide' final consumers andonapolicy oftaking part in
"specialised trade fairs .
B.Research into new outlets and improved products
Inview ofthevery rapid advance inconsumer requirements and inthe
rangei ofproducts available tothem ,theCommission feels itshould
encourage % ^
-research aimed atcreating improved products ,including improvements
through perfect compound offlax with othef fibres ,
-research aimed atfinding completely newoutlets forflax fibres ,on
theanalogy ,ofsome studies undertaken intheUnited States in
particular forcotton linte'rs .
TheCommission points outthat this programme ispart ofawider range of
measures toencourage use offlax .The flax trade was encouraged bythe
undertaking made bytheCouncil inRegulation (EEC )No2511 /80anddecided
tostep uptheeffort undertaken inthelast fewyears topromote
consumption .Ithas therefore undertaken toachieve in1981 ,under the

-3-
responsibility oftheInternational Linen andHemp Confederation (CILC ),an
information andpublicity campaign foratotal sumofabout 1.3million
ECU ,about 85%ofwhich isfortheCommunity market .
TheCommission will ensure ,incarrying out itsprogramme ,that there isno
overlapping orcontradiction with measures undertaken bythetrade .
5.Inview ofthelimited period theprogramme istorunand theneed to
achieve therequired results inthe short term ,theCommission feels it
must concentrate effort oninformation campaigns andproposes accordingly
todevote 450,000 ECU (75%ofthetotal )tothese campaigns .However ,that
figure isofapurely indicative nature and theCommission reserves the
right toreview theamounts according torequirements atthetime the
detailed programme isdrawn up.TheCouncil will beinformed ofany
substantial change inthis respect .
Inview ofthetype ofmeasure envisaged ,itisdifficult toforecast a
geographical breakdown .However ,theCommission will take account asfar
aspossible ofthefollowing three criteria :
-scale ofproduction ,
consumption ,
potential forincrease inthat consumption .

FINANCIAL STATEMENT
Date:5xJanuary1981
1.BUOGETHEADING:7302
APPROPRIATIONS :<|,OMIOUCE
theprogrammetoencouraso ■
.–„, i..lie17ou/oi/marnenng yea
3.LEGALBASIS:Reg.2511/80oftheCouncil
4.AIMSOFPROJECT:Programmetoencourageuseofflaxfibres
I5.FINANCIALIMPLICATIONS
I5.0EXPENDITURE
I-CHARGEDTOTHEECBUDGET
1(SIMMINTERVENTIONS )-
I-NATIONALADMINISTRATION
1-OTHER
15.1RECEIPTSI:-OWNRESOURCESOFTHEEC
1(LEVIES/CUSTOMSDUTIES)
I-NATIONALPERIODOF12MONTHSCURRENTFINANCIAL YEAR
<81)FOLLOWINGFINANCIALYEAR I
(8?Ì
600000ECl600000ECU(1)
I5.0.1ESTIMATEDEXPENDITURE
I5.1.1ESTIMATEDRECEIPTS
1- -
5.2METHODOFCALCULATION
6.0CANTHEPROJECTBEFINANCEDFROMAPPROPRIATIONS ENTEREDINTHERELEVANTCHAPTEROFTHECURRENTBUDGET*
■"ΐηίΗΜΜΙΜΠ6.1YES/MH
(MM
*•?luniifitiiiNmniiiiffinai ,
zrrnmmmmmMwwmmnrrmu
mit
OBSERVATIONS :T-I•>TL
Ttch«..I.uexPenseis.coveredbythecreditwrittenintothe1981BudaetILJI7,aS°n°t6dth3t459000ECUofthe•»»«"*inquestionwastakeninto"consideration whenfixingtheflatrateaidforfibreflax-