28. 8. 73 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 69/3 
THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE, Article 3 (3) 
Having regard to the request by the Council of the 
European Communities of 24 January 1973 for an 
Opinion on the 'proposal for a Council Regulation 
on the arrangements for the processing of goods in 
bond before they are marketed; 
Having regard to Article 198 of the Treaty 
establishing the European Economic Community; 
Having regard to the Decision of its Bureau on 21 
February 1973 to instruct the Section for Industry, 
Commerce, Crafts and Services to prepare an 
Opinion and a report on this subject; 
Having regard to the Opinion issued by the Section 
for Industry, Commerce, Crafts and Services at its 
meeting of 21 March 1973; The Committee feels that. the Italian translation 
should be aligned with the French version. 
Article 8 (1) 
The Committee hopes the questionnaire referred to in 
this subparagraph will be drawn up as quickly as 
possible. 
Generally, the Committee draws the attention of the 
Commission to the fact that the harmonization is 
lagging behind the other areas of customs 
harmonization questionnaires. 
Article 12 
Having regafld to the report submitted by Mr De 
Grave, rapporteur; 
Having regard to the discussions of its 110th Plenary 
Session of 28 and 29 March 1973, sitting of 29 March 
1973; 
HAS ADOPTED THE FOLLOWING OPINION: 
The Committee approves the proposal for a 
Regulation subject to the following remarks: The Committee fears that the discretion given to 
Member States in the first subparagraph will narrow 
the scope of the Regulation. Harmonization of this 
provision at a later date is desirable. 
Annex 1 
The Committee hopes that the Commission will 
make proposal proposals for amplifying the Annex at 
a later date. 
Done at Brussels, 29 March 1973. 
The Chairman 
of the Economic and Social Committee 
Alfons LAPPAS 
CONSULTATION OF THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE 
on a proposal for a Council Directive on mutual assistance for the recovery of sums 
paid in error in connection with the common agricultural policy and of agricultural 
levies and customs duties 
A. REQUEST FOR AN OPINION 
At its 225th meeting held on 22 and 23 January 1973, the Council decided in accordance 
with the provisions of Articles 43 and 100 of the Treaty establishing the European 
Economic Community to consult the Economic and Social Committee on the above 
proposal for a Directive. 
The request for an Opinion was sent by the President of the Council to the Chairman 
of the Economic and Social Committee on 24 January 1973. 
No C 69/4 Official Journal of the European Communities 28. 8. 73 
B. TEXT WHICH WAS THE SUBJECT OF THE CONSULTATION 
The text which was the subject of the consultation has not yet been published in the 
Official Journal of the European Communities. 
C. OPINION OF THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE 
At its 110th Plenary Session held in Brussels on 28 and 29 March 1973, the Committee 
adopted its Opinion on the text referred to under B by a unanimous vote of all the 
members present or represented. 
The text of the Opinion is as follows: 
THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE, 
Having regard to the request by the Council of 24 
January 1973 for an Opinion on the 'proposal for a 
Council Directive on mutual assistance for the 
recovery of sums paid in error in connection with the 
common agricultural policy, and of agricultural levies 
and customs duties'; 
Having regard to Articles 43 and 100 of the Treaty 
establishing the European Economic Community; 
Having regard to the Decision of its Bureau of 21 
February 1973 instructing the Section for Agriculture 
to prepare an Opinion and a report on the subject; 
Having regard to Article 46 and 47 of the Rules of 
Procedure; 
Having regard to the Decision taken by the Bureau of 
the Section for Agriculture on 9 March 1973; 
Having regard to the Opinion delivered by the 
Section for Agriculture at its meeting held on 26 
March 1973; 
Having regard to the verbal report presented by Mr 
De Grave, rapporteur, and the discussions of the 
Section for Agriculture at its meeting on 26 March 
1973; 
Having regard to its deliberations at the 110th 
Plenary Session held on 28 and 29 March 1973, 
sitting of 28 March 1973; 
Whereas the progress to date of the customs union 
and the achievement of the common agricultural 
policy require mutual assistance between the Member 
States, allowing the recovery of public debts in a 
Member State other than that in which the debts 
occurred; 
Whereas the scope of the Commission proposal for a 
Directive is limited to sums paid in error in connection with the common agricultural policy, 
levies and customs duties, and does not concern VAT 
or any of the other taxes on consumption; 
Whereas the recovery of all public dejpts should be 
effected throughout the whole Community according 
to one and the same procedure and according to a 
single, Community legal system; 
HAS ADOPTED THE FOLLOWING OPINION: 
The Economic and Social Committee approves the 
proposal for a Directive, subject to the following 
considerations. 
1. Scope 
The Committee emphasises that the debts covered by 
the present proposal are in nearly every case coupled 
with debts arising from value added tax, part of 
which will form one of the Community's own 
resources as from 1 January 1975. 
The following should therefore be added at the end of 
Article 2: 
'(e) value added tax.' 
The point here is that the legal system governing 
mutual assistance in the matter of recovery of debts 
in another Member State should be the same for all 
debts of a public nature so as to avoid unnecessary 
administrative duplication and different means of 
appeal, precedents, sanctions and amendment 
procedures. 
For these same reasons, the Committee hopes that the 
other taxes on consumption will also be included 
under Article 2, or at least that a Decision taken by 
the Member States meeting in the Council will extend 
28. 8. 73 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 69/5 
the scope of the Directive to include taxes for which 
the Treaty does not give exclusive responsibility to 
Community authorities. 
This procedure would allow earlier entry into force 
than a standard international convention, would lend 
itself more easily to any amendments which might 
prove necessary and would enable the duplications, 
and the divergencies of procedure and precedent 
mentioned above to be avoided. those of the receiving authorities, or even be set out 
in a separate article. 
3. Article 6 
Under Article 6 (1), the expression 'competent 
authority of the Member State' should be amended, 
as it seems to exclude legal procedures. 
4. Article 8 
2. Article 5 
Under Article 5, the obligations of the applicant 
authorities should be more clearly distinguished from Article 8, should be amended so that the rights to 
repayment covered by the Directive have, where 
appropriate, the same preferences and priorities as 
'national' ones. 
Done at Brussels, 28 March 1973. 
The Chairman 
of the Economic and Social Committee 
Alfons LAPPAS 
CONSULTATION OF THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE 
on the Commission proposal to the Council relating to the fixing of prices for certain 
farm products and certain related measures 
A. REQUEST FOR AN OPINION 
At its 235th meeting held on 22 March 1973, the Council decided to exercise its option 
of consulting the Economic and Social Committee on the above proposal. 
The request for an Opinion was sent by the President of the Council to the Chairman 
of the Economic and Social Committee on 23 March 1973. 
B. TEXT WHICH WAS THE SUBJECT OF THE CONSULTATION 
The text which was the subject of the consultation has not yet been published in the 
Official Journal of the European Communities. 
C. OPINION OF THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE 
At its 110th Plenary Session held in Brussels on 28 and 29 March 1973, the Committee 
adopted its Opinion on the text referred to under B, by 62 votes to l,with 13 abstentions 
out of the 76 members present or represented. 
The text of the Opinion is as follows: