ARCHIVESHISTORIQUES
DELACOMMISSION
COLLECTION RELIEEDES
DOCUMENTS "COM"
COM(80)387
Vol.1980/0136

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COMMISSION OFTHEEUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
COM(80)387 final
Brussels,17thJuly1980
COMMUNICATION FROMTHECOMMISSION TOTHECOUNCIL
ONTHEHARMONIZATION OFENERGYCOSTSINHORTICULTURE
IZ3> h;
ι·~- "■-ί.ί:^Δ**^-aV
COM(80)387final

I «
COMMUNICATION PROM THE COMMISSION
TOTHE COUNCIL
ontheharmonization ofenergy costs inhorticulture
1.On6June I98O theCommission forwarded areport totheCouncil on
distortions ofcompetition inhothouse agriculture (doc .C0M(80)306 final ).
Inthis report itpoints outthat themost serious distortions are caused
bytheuse inhorticulture ofdifferent types offuel ,atdiffering rates
perunit ofcalorific value ,from onemember country toanother . .Other
.s'distortions arecaused "bythefollowing factors :
–thegeneral procedures applying fortheformation offuel prices (fixing
ofmaximum prices atdifferent levels indifferent Member States or
i'rcc toriiiatioa ofprices onthemarkets ): - ."
«
indirect taxation onenergy ,which varies appreciably from oneMember
State toanother ;
–the special rate charged forljatural gassupplied tofruit andvegetable
growers intheNetherlands .
. sTheCommission stated initsreport that it -intended toinitiate the
«
procedure provided forinArticle 93(l )oftheTreaty inrespect ofthe
preferential rate charged fornatural gasintheNetherlands ;the
procedure isunder way . , „
- 1
 * '
2."However ,onamore general level ,itseems that efforts should bemade to
arrive atmore harmonized conditions offuel supply inthevarious Member .
States . - ■
InitsCommunication tothe Council ontheharmonization ofprices and
taxes intheenergy sector intheCommunity (doc.COM(8o)l52 final of
24March 1980 )theCommission said itintended todevote itself tothis
difficult andunavoidably lengthy task assoon aspossible .
Work onthis front isnow inhand inthe Commission departments .The
Commission hopes toputappropriate proposals tothe Council shortly .
./•

Intheimmediatefuturethereremainstheurgentandtangibleproblemof
thepreferentialtariffappliedintheNetherlands inthecaseofnatural
f^asusedinhorticulture ;
Asstatedearlier,theCommissionwillexaminethistariffinthelightof
Articles92and93oftheTreaty.Noactioncouldbetakenunlessitwere
foundthat,withthehelpofStateresources ,Dutchgrowersarebenefiting
fromspecificadvantagesnotavailabletootherusersofnaturalgas.
However,irrespective ofmeasureswhichcouldbetakeninthiscaseunder
theabove-mentioned Articles ,theCommissionconsidersthattheproblem-
mustbeapproached onamore.generallevelandthatitisconseauently
necessary ,atleasttosomeextent,toharmonizeconditionsforobtaining
fuelsupplies^for Communityhorticulture .Tothisend,theCommission
considersitappropriatethatanyfuel(naturalgas,liquefiedparaffin
gas,dieseloilandresidualfueloil,etc.)shouldbesuppliedto
horticultural usersatthesamepricesassuppliesinsimilarconditionsof
supplytousersinothersectors.TheCommissionisav.'arethatsuchan'
approachrepresentsmerelyapartialsolutionNevertheless ,itconsiders
thatsuchameasurecouldbeafirstusefulsteptowardsamoregeneralized
harmonization offuelprices.TheConnr'ssionisalsooftheonir.ionthat
3uchharmonization willatthesametimeencourageenergysaving,an
objectiveonwhichtheCouncilagreedinitsResolutionof-9JuneTQ°.0(1).
4.Inthesecircumstances ,theCommissioninvitestheCounciltoexpressits
agreementinprincipleontheapproachdescribedabovebyadoptingthe
attacheddraftResolution .Itreservestherighttosubmit,ifnecessary ,
appropriate proposalsonthismatter.
(1)OJNoC1^9,18June1980,p.3

PROPOSAL FORARESOLUTION
Havingregardtotheguidelinessetoutinabasicprogrammeforenergysaving
attachedtoitsResolutionof9June1980concerning newlinesofactionby.
theCommunityinthefieldofenergysavingand,inparticular ,theprinciple
whereby
"consumerpricesshouldreflectrepresentative conditions ontheworld
market,takingaccountoflonger-term trends"
theCounciloftheEuropeanCommunities ,
herebyinvitestheMemberStatestoensurethatthesamepricesareappliedto
thesupplyofanyfuel(naturalgas,liquefiedparaffingas,dieseloiland
residualfueloil,etc.)tousersinthehorticultural sectorasaresupplied
tosuppliesinsimilarconditionsofsupplytousersinothersectors.