ARCHIVESHISTORIQUES
DELACOMMISSION
COLLECTION RELIEEDES
DOCUMENTS "COM"
COM(78)337
Vol.1978/0127

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COMMISSION COM(78)337final
OFTHE
EUROPEANCOMMUNITIES Brussels-fi,XI.1978
SG(78)D/12882
Sir.
TheCommissionwishestodrawyourattention,andthatofthe
Governments oftheotherMemberStatestowhomasimilarletterhas
beensent,totheproblemscurrentlybeingraisedinthesafeguarding
offreedomoftradewithintheCommunity.
Thefreemovementofgoods,aprimeobjectiveoftheTreatyof
RomeandfoundationoftheCommonMarket,hasbeenandcontinuestobe
thesubjectofaneverincreasing numberofrestrictive measuresofall
typestakenbynationalpublicauthorities tofavouroneoranother
nationalindustrialsectorortorestrainimportscomingfromother
MemberStates.
InmostcasesthesemeasureshavebeennotifiedtotheCommission
bycomplaints comingfromverydifferentsources:membersofthe
EuropeanParliament,nationalGovernments,professional associations,
enterprises andindividuals .
Thisphenomenonisnotinitselfeitherneworsurprising;how­
evertheconsiderable increaseinthesemeasuresinthelastthreeyears,
thesizeofthesectorsfortheproductsconcerned andthefactthatthe.
measuresinquestionhavebecomegeneralpracticeinallMemberStates
haveledtheCommissiontoexaminetheproblemwiththegreatestattention.
Atpresentitisinvestigating morethanfourhundreddossierson
hindrances tothefreemovementofgoodsespecially onthebasisof
Articles30-36oftheEECTreaty.Thisfigurewhichhasmorethan
quadrupled comparedtofourorfiveyearsagoonlyrepresents asmall
sampleofthereality.
Therestrictive measuresinquestionextendtoaveryvastand
diversenumberofproducts.Howeverexamination ofthedossiershasshown
thatitisdifficulttodirectattentiontooneMemberStateratherthan
another.Allaremoreorlessinvolved.
Amongtheserestrictive measuresthefollowingcategories maybe
citedbywayofexamples:
HisExcellency
TheRightHon.Dr.DavidOWENM.P.
SecretaryofStatefor
ForeignandCommonwealth Affairs
ForeignandCommonwealth Office
DowningStreet
L0ND0NSW1A2AL
Provision*address:Ruede.aLoi200.B-Ï049Brusse.s-Te.ephone7350040/>358040-Te.egraphicaddres,:"COMEURBrusse.s'-
Telex:"21877COMtUE

-2-
ι
!
a)Documents-suchasautomaticlicences,technicalverifications,certificatesoforigin-towhichMemberStatessubjectimportsor
imports.TheCourthasdeclaredillegaltherequirementforsuch
documentsevenwheretheyaredeliveredautomatically andwithout
delayorwheretheyareintendedforstatisticalorchecking
purposes.
Aboutseventydossiersinthisareaarebeinginvestigated.For
morethanhalftheCommissionhasdecidedtoinitiateorcontinue
theprocedurelaiddowninArticle169oftheEECTreaty.
MoreoverfollowingrecentdecisionsoftheCourtespeciallyon
"Certificates oforigin"requiredbyMemberStatesatthenational
level,theCommissionhasmaderepresentations toallMemberStates
recallingtothemtheirobligations underArticle30oftheEEC
Treatyandcallinguponthemtosuppressformalities suchasthese
Whichareameansofrestraininganddiscouragingtrade.
b)Nationalruleslayingdowntechnicalconditionsandconditionsrelating
toqualitytowhichtheimportandsaleofproductsonthenational
marketaresubject.
Theserulesapplybothtonationalandimportedproductsanddo
notentailapparentlyanyelementofdiscrimination orprotection;on
theotherhandtheobjectivewhichtheyseektoachieveisalways
mostlegitimate :theprotectionoflifeandhealthofhumans,protection
of,andinformationfor,theconsumer,improvement ofproducts *quality,
etc.
Althoughtheseobjectivesarelegitimate,suchrulesmay,however,be
directedtowardspreventingordiscouraging importsofproductscoming
fromotherMemberStates.
Thesameappliestonationaltechnicalstandardsdrawnupbythe
professions whichareoftenbasedonmanufacturing criteriaemployedby
nationalindustry.WhenthesearemadeobligatorybyMemberStatesand
thusareequallyimposedonimportedproducts,theconsequenceisthat
theybearmoreheavily,ifnotexclusively,onthelatterthanon
indigenousproducts.
Therestrictiveeffectsoftheserulesandtechnicalstandardsare
doublyharmfultofreetrade:ontheonehandtheypartitionmarkets
withintheCommunity;ontheothertheyparalysetheenactmentof
Communityrulesinthematter.
Aboutahundreddossiersinthisfieldareinvestigated onthebasis
ofArticles30-36oftheEECTreaty.Foraboutthirtydossiersthe
procedurelaiddowninArticle169oftheEECTreatyhasbeeninitiated,
adecisioncouldbetakenshortlyforaboutforty.
/

c)Nationalprovisionsimposingmaximumorminimumpricesforcertain
products.Sometimesthesepricesarefixedonthebasisofcostprice
0[-tkJC|Ua°fnational-Productsaloneortheyarefixedatalevelwhichdoesnottakeintoaccountsupplementarycostsandchargesinherentinimportationsothatthepricesofimportedproductsare
nolongerprofitable.Aboutthirtycasesofthiskindarebeing
examinedinthe^lightofArticle30oftheEECTreaty.InfringementproceduresinitiatedrecentlyagainstcertainStateshaveresultedin
thesepricesbeingbroughttolevels"comprisingsupplementarycosts
andchargesinherentinimportation".
d)CheckscarriedoutatfrontierswithintheCommunity,oftenexcessive
andwithoutjustification,andinthiswaycontrarytotheprovisions
ofArticles30-36oftheEECTreaty.
e)"Preferential systems"grantedbypublicauthoritiesinfavourof
nationalindustrywhenpubliccontractsforsuppliesareawarded.
f)Taxeshavingeffectequivalenttocustomsdutiesandfeesforchecks,
contrarytotheprovisionsofArticle12etseq.oftheEECTreaty.
Abouteightycasesarebeinginvestigated.Foraboutthirtyofthem
adecisiontoinitiatetheprocedureunderArticle169oftheEEC
Treatyhasbeentaken.
Thecategoriesofhindrancesandthefiguresrelatingthereto
quotedbywayofexample,giveapictureoftheextentofthephenomenon
andoftheextentofthesectorsreferredtoanddemonstrate theharmful
effectswhichtheseadditionalrestrictiveprovisions mayentailforthe
freemovementofgoods.Asignificantfeatureinthisrespectwhichis
undoubtedlyrevealingofthedeteriorating positionisgivenbythe"Buy
national"campaignslaunchedbymeansofdeclarations andencouragements
comingfromnotonlyprivateassociations butalso'publicauthorities.
Thusbeingconsciousofthe-needtomaintainthiselementwhich
isessentialforthefunctioning anddevelopment oftheinternalmarket,
freedomoftrade,theCommissionhasdecidedtoactfirmlyandpromptly
andhasplacedthisactionamongitsprioritytasks.
Concretelysoastoprosecuteinfringements ofCommunitylawmore
rapidlyandeffectively,ithasadoptednewinternalprocedures,flexible
andaccelerated;thishasallowedittoinitiateaverysignificant number
ofinfringement proceduresonthebasisofArticLe169oftheEECTreaty
andtoprosecutetheminhalfthetimerequiredpreviously.Thusinthe
lasttwelvemonthstheCommissionaddressedtotheMemberStatesconcerned
sixty-fivelettersconstituting formalnoticeandanalmostequalnumber
ofreasonedopinionsunderArticle169oftheEECTreaty.Moreoverduring
thisperioditdecidedtobringaboutthirtycasesbeforetheCourtof

-4-
Justiceforinfringements whichtheStateshavenotrectified.AtpresentdecisionstoinitiateproceedingsunderArticle169couldsoonbetakenforaboutonehundredandtwenty-fivedossiers.
Abouttwohundredandeighty-fivedossiersarethereforeinvolved;during1974-1975lessthanahundreddossierswerethesubjectofsuchdecisions.
BymeansofsimplifiedandrapidproceduresMemberStateshavebeen
remindedoftheobligationsimposeduponthembyArticle169andtheyhave
beenled,,inmanycases,toputanendtotheinfringementwithinatime
limitwhichismuchshorterthaninthepast.Neverthelesstheincreasing
numberofdo'ssierstobedealtwithdoesposestaffingproblemswhichhavebeenrecognizedinabudgetarycontext.
TheCommissionhaslaiddownforitselftheobjectofcontinuing
alongthisroad.Thisactionisrenderedmorethaneverindispensable by
theeconomicproblemswithwhichtheCommunityisconfrontedrtheriskthat
MemberStateswillwithdrawintothemselves,andthedangerofrepartitioning
marketswhichwouldjeopardizetheaccomplishment oftheinternalmarket.
Ontheotherhandjustashasbeendoneinthecaseofcertaininfringe­
mentscommontoallMemberStates,theCommissionwillnotfailtoinitiate,
whenthesituationsorequires,globalcoordinatedaction,directedatall
MemberStates.
FinallytheCommissionproposestoexplore,inaccordancewiththe
newguidelinessetoutbyrecentinterpretative decisionsoftheCourtof
Justice,allthepossibilities whichwillenableittoensurethattherules
oftheEECTreatyonthefreemovementofgoods,especiallyArticles30-36,
arestrictlyappliedandthustoachieveagreaterandmoreeffective
liberalization ofintracommunitytrade.
HowevertheCommissionalonecannotachievethedesiredobjective
withouttheassistanceofallMemberStates.Itwillthereforecallupon
nationalGovernmentstotakeallnecessarymeasuresappropriate toensure
thecorrectandeffectivefulfilmentoftheobligationsarisingoutof
CommunitylawandtosupporttheactiontakenbytheCommissiontosafeguard
thefreemovementofgoodswithintheCommunity.
Pleaseaccept,Sir,theassuranceofmyhighestconsideration.
EtienneDAVIGNON
MemberoftheCommission