NoC304/8 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities 10.11.93
beastepintherightdirection.Thismustnot,however,
bediscriminatory .WheretheAAisconcerned,newtechnologiesmustbeappliedtoallvessels,whether
Spanish,PortugueseorfromtheTen.
DoneatBrussels,22September1993.
TheChairman
oftheEconomicandSocialCommittee
SusanneTIEMANN
Opinionontheproposalfor?.CouncilRegulation (EEC)layingdownthetradearrangements
applicabletocertaingoodsresultingfromtheprocessingofagriculturalproducts(*)
(93/C304/05)
On5May1993,theCouncildecidedtoconsulttheEconomicandSocialCommittee
underArticle198oftheTreatyestablishingtheEuropeanEconomicCommunity,onthe
abovementioned proposal.
TheSectionforAgricultureandFisheries,whichwasresponsibleforpreparingtheCom­
mittee'sworkonthesubject,adopteditsOpinionon3September1993.TheRapporteur
wasMrGardner.
Atits308thPlenarySession(meetingof22September1993)theEconomicandSocial
CommitteeadoptedthefollowingOpinionunanimously .
1.Introduction
1.1.Thisproposaldealswiththeeffectsofmechan­
isms:importleviesandexportrefunds.
1.1.1.WhentheECexportsitsproductsitusesthe
'refund'tomakeupthedifferencebetweentheECprice
andtheinternationalprice;failuretoalignthetwo
priceswouldexcludetheECfromtheworldmarket.
1.1.2.TheleviesareasourceofrevenuefortheEC
budget,whiletherefundscomeunderexpenditure .1.2.2.Itshouldalsobenotedthatwhenprocessed
productsareexportedontothirdcountrymarkets,
therefundisbasedsolelyonthequantityofbasic
agriculturalproduct(cereals,sugar,milk,etc.)usedin
theprocessedproduct.
1.2.3.WhentheCommunityimportsprocessedagri­
culturalproductsfromcountrieswithwhomithas
concludedpreferentialagreements,thefixedcom­
ponentisalmostalwayswaived;hencethelevyisbased
solelyonthevariablecomponent .
1.2.4.Processedproductstodayaccountforan
importantshareofproductsforhumanconsumption ;
sufficeittonotethat75%ofagriculturalproduction
undergoesfirstorevensecondorthirdprocessing
beforeitisconsumed .1.2.Thesameruleappliestoprocessedagricultural
products;whencalculatingboththelevyandtherefund,
accountistakenofthequantityofbasicagricultural
productusedintheprocessedproduct.
1.2.1.Itshouldbeborneinmindthatinthecase
ofprocessedproducts,externalprotectionisnormally
providedbothbythelevy(avariablecomponent )and
byacustomsdutydesignedtoprotecttheECprocessing
industry(afixedcomponent).1.2.5.Hencetheneedtopayincreasingattentionto
thoseproducts,whichareregulatedatEClevelby
Regulations (EEC)Nos3033/80(imports)and3035/80
(exports).
1.3.BothRegulationshavebeenamendedmany
timesbyaCouncilprocedurewhichisslowand (!)OJNoC126,7.5.1993,p.13.

10.11.93 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities NoC304/9
mitteeandonlytheycandecidepolicy,thecommittee
shouldbeabletoreflecttheverywiderangeofexperi­
enceneededtodealnotonlywithproblemsarising
withinthecommonagriculturalpolicy(CAP)butalso
thosearisingfromsuchexternalmattersastheprotec­
tivemechanismofthirdcountries,particularlyinthe
foodsector.laboriousandtheCommissionnowneedsaspecialized
ManagementCommitteetomanagethefrequentdetail¬
edchanges,bothroutineonesandthosearisingoutof
theincreasingnumberofpreferentialtradeagreements .
Examplesincludemanagementofreducedlevyquotas
forprocessedfoodsundertheEastEuropeanagree­
ments,theneedtomanageoptionalarrangementsfor
agriculturalpricecompensationundertheforthcoming
EuropeanEconomicArea,managementofanycommit ¬
mentsoftheGeneralAgreementonTariffsandTrade
(GATT)forprocessedfoodsetc.2.2.5.Itwouldbebestiftheproposedcommittee
hadanoverallmanagementresponsibility fortrade
issuesaffectingnotonlyimportsbutalsoexportsof
non-AnnexIIproducts.
1.3.1.Asageneralpoint,bothforexistingManage­
mentCommitteesandthisproposedone,thereneeds
tobemuchmoretransparency .Thefullestpossible
reportshouldbemadeofdeliberationsanddecisions.2.2.6.Finallyforsimilarreasons,itisessentialfor
theCommissiontosetupanAdvisoryCommitteeso
astohavedirectinputfromfarmers,processors,con­
sumers,commerce,etc.SuchCommitteesexisttoassist
theworkofthepresentAgriculturalManagementCom­
mitteesandcanprovideavaluableforumforconsul­
tationandinformation .TheCommitteetherefore
stronglyurgestheCommissiontofollowitsnormal
procedureandsetupanactiveAdvisoryCommittee
whichwouldmorethanjustifythebudgetarycosts.In
linewith1.3.1theremustbethemaximumtransparency
initsoperations .2.Generalcomments
2.1.Theproposalintroducesprovisionstocoverby
anewRegulationallnon-AnnexIIproductsinTariff
Chapters1-24whichareprocessedfromagricultural
materials.Thisiscoupledwithprovisionstorecognize
aspecificagriculturalcomponentforallsuchproducts .
Itisawelcomesteptowardsclarificationandsimplifi ¬
cationoftheexistingcomplexsystem.3.Detailedcomments
2.1.1.Theproposalshouldalsogreatlyspeedupand
simplifydecisionsandimplementations inthisarea.
2.2.TheCommitteeapprovestheproposal,subject,
however,tosomefundamentalprovisoswhicharegiven
below.
2.2.1.Theproposalisnotveryclearandneedstobe
mademuchmoretransparent .Forinstancethepre­
amblesmentionRegulation (EEC)No3033(imports)
butnotRegulation (EEC)No3035(exports)though
theexplanatorymemorandum clearlyshowsthatthe
Commissionwantstousethenewprocedureforexports
aswell.IndeedChapter2coversexports.
2.2.2.Theproposedmanagementcommitteeisboth
necessaryanddesirable.Manyfoodscontainagricul­
turalingredientsfromseveraloftheexistingvertical
managementcommittees (e.g.biscuits,mueslimixes.,
filledpastaproducts,babyfoods).ThenewEuropean
EconomicareaandEasternEuropeagreementstreat:
finishedfoodsinadifferentmannerfromagricultural
products.3.1.Article1
Definesthescopewhichisforagriculturalproducts
andgoodsmadecontainingthese.AnnexIIwhichgives
detailsofthesealsocontainsspongesandseaweed,agar
agaretc.whicharefisheryproducts.Definitionor
Annexthereforeneedsrevising.
3.2.Article3.1
TheCommitteeacceptstheCommissionassurancethat
thelistofbasicagriculturalproductsinAnnexAcan
bemodifiedbutonlybyaCouncilProcedure.
3.3.Article9
ThisessentiallyconsistsofthefirstindentofArticle10
ofthepresentRegulation (EEC)No3033/80.Forclarity
thesecondindentalsoneedstoberetainedhere.This
stipulatesthatmeasuresmust'takeaccountofspecific
interestsoftheprocessingindustries'.
2.2.3.Howeverthedivisionbetweenthosematters
whicharebestdealtwithverticallyandthosematters
whicharemostsuitedtohorizontaldecisionmustbe
distinguished .
2.2.4.WhileitisfortheCommission andtheMem­
berStatestodeterminethecompositionofthecom­3.4.Article11
The15thpreamblestipulatestheruleforinwardpro­
cessingbutthewordinginthisArticleislessclear.In
linewiththepreamble,itshouldbestatedexplicitly
thatRegulation (EEC)No1999/85continuestoapply
totradecoveredbythisproposal.

NoC304/10 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities 10.11.93
3.5.Article20
AccordingtotheExplanatoryMemorandum thisisthe
methodtheCommissionwantstouseforrepealingRegulation (EEC)No3035/80.Thatmaybeamistake
forArticle21buteventhentheapplicationtoexports
isoneofthemanyobscuritiesintheproposalandthe
wholeprocedureforexportsneedsclarifying.
DoneatBrussels,22September1993.
TheChairman
oftheEconomicandSocialCommittee
SusanneTIEMANN
OpinionontheWorkingDocumentoftheCommissiononaStrategicProgrammeonthe
InternalMarket
(93/C304/06
On7June1993theCommissiondecidedtoconsulttheEconomicandSocialCommittee,
underArticle198oftheTreatyestablishingtheEuropeanEconomicCommunity ,onthe
WorkingDocumentoftheCommissiononaStrategicProgrammeontheInternalMarket
TheSectionforIndustry,Commerce,CraftsandServices,whichwasresponsibleforpreparing
theCommittee'sworkonthesubject,adopteditsOpinionon15September1993.The
RapporteurwasMrConnellanandtheCo-Rapporteur wasMrSchmitz.
Atits308thPlenarySession(meetingof22September1993),theEconomicandSocial
CommitteeadoptedthefollowingOpinionbyalargemajoritywith4abstentions .
1.Introduction cationincorporatestheCommission'sfurtherandmore
comprehensive responsetotheSutherlandReport,and
itsviewsofthebroaderStrategicDevelopmentofthe
InternalMarket.1.1.On27May1993,theEconomicandSocialCom­
mitteeadoptedaninitialOpinionontheSutherland
ReportandthesubsequentCommissionCommuni­
cationSEC(92)2277finalwhichconcentratedpar­
ticularlyontheESCroleintheimplementation and
furthershapingoftheInternalMarket.Atthetime,the
CommitteedecidedtoprepareanAdditionalOpinion
whichwouldfocusonthedetailedrecommendations
intheCommunication andintheSutherlandReport.
On2June1993theCommissionissueditsWorking
DocumentonaStrategicProgrammeontheInternal
MarketcontainedintheCommunication addressedto
theCouncilandtheParliament(*).ThisCommuni­ThepresentOpiniontakesaccountofthisWorking
Document,theCommunication fromtheCommission
totheCouncilandtheEuropeanParliamentonRein­
forcingEffectivenessoftheInternalMarket[doc.
COM(93)256final].Itdevelopstherecommendations
madeinthefirstOpinionwithregardtotheCom­
mittee'sroleandalsohighlightstheissueswhichthe
ESCconsidersareofgreatestimportance .TheCom­
mitteewillreturntomoredetailedissuesinthefuture. f1)Doc.COM(93)2.56final