19. 11. 84 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 307/9 
B. OPINION OF THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE 
At its 219th plenary session (meeting of 26 September 1984) the Economic and Social 
Committee adopted the following opinion unanimously. 
1. The Economic and Social Committee approves the 
Commission's efforts to harmonize summertime. It 
accordingly welcomes the Commission's proposal for a 
Third Directive laying down uniform dates from 1986 
onwards for the end of summertime in the Community. 
This would mean that both the beginning and the end of 
summertime would be harmonized in all the Member 
States, so that the costly problems in the transport, energy 
supply and communication sectors caused by different 
time change-overs and time differences would be largely 
eliminated. 
2. Although the Commission's new proposal fails to 
take full account of the special position of the island 
Member States and fails to fix the end of summertime in 
Done at Brussels, 26 September 1984. the month of November (J), it does extend the length of 
summertime on the continent. The Committee 
accordingly considers that the advantages to be gained 
from the alignment of island and continental summertime 
far outweigh the few disadvantages that may be suffered 
by the island Member States on account of the 
curtailment of their summertime. The Committee 
recommends that in the interests of the Community, the 
Council should bridge the remaining differences between 
individual Member States and accept the Commission's 
proposal for a Third Directive. 
(') See also the Committee's opinion on the Commission 
proposal for a First Council Directive on summertime 
arrangements (OJ No C 131, 12. 6. 1976, p. 12). 
The Chairman 
of the Economic and Social Committee 
Francois CEYRAC 
Opinion on the proposal for a Council Regulation amending Regulation (EEC) No 754/76 on 
the customs treatment applicable to goods returned to the customs territory of the 
Community 
(84/C 307/05) 
The text referred to the Committee has been published in Official Journal of the European 
Communities No C 87 of 29 March 1984, page 3. 
A. LEGAL BASIS FOR THE OPINION 
On 3 April 1984 the Council, acting under Article 198 of the Treaty establishing the European 
Economic Community, asked the Economic and Social Committee for an opinion on the 
abovementioned proposal. 
Procedure 
The Section for Industry, Commerce, Crafts and Services was instructed to prepare the 
Committee's work on the matter. The Section adopted its opinion, based on the report by Mr 
Broicher, on 5 September 1984. 
B. OPINION OF THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE 
At its 219th plenary session held on 26 and 27 September 1984 (meeting of 26 September) the 
Committee unanimously adopted the opinion set out below. 
No C 307/10 Official Journal of the European Communities 19. 11. 84 
1. The Committee endorses the amendments to the 
customs provisions set out in the basic Regulation. The 
new proposal constitutes a welcome move towards 
achieving uniform legal and administrative treatment of a 
subject hitherto covered by separate provisions. It also 
represents a practical alignment on other cases dealt with 
in a similar way. 
2. The Committee does, however, consider that the 
law would be more in line with practical requirements if 
Article 13 were to permit the reimportation of goods into 
a Member State other than the exporting State under less 
strict conditions. 
2.1. The monetary compensatory amounts (MCAs) 
currently still applicable to certain Member States have 
been introduced to prevent disruptions to the common 
market in agricultural products. MCAs are applied both 
in intra-Community trade and in trade with non-EC 
countries. They are thus applied in the case of returned 
goods which are reimported into a different Member 
State. Difficulties do of course arise in this respect as a 
result of the constant changes in the MCAs. If there were 
to be no restrictions on the reimporting of goods into 
Member States other than the exporting State, this could 
Done at Brussels, 26 September 1984. 
Francois CEYRAC 
Opinion on the social developments in the Community in 1983 
(84/C 307/06) 
A. LEGAL BASIS FOR THE OPINION 
On 7 June 1984 the Commission decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, under 
Article 122 of the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, on the social 
developments in the Community in 1983. 
Procedure 
The Section for Social Questions, which was responsible for preparing the Committee's work 
on the subject, adopted its opinion on 21 June 1984 in the light of the report by Mr Danilo 
Beretta. 
B. OPINION OF THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE 
At its 219th plenary session (meeting of 26 September 1984) the Economic and Social 
Committee adopted the following opinion by 85 votes to 34, with 10 abstentions. lead to speculative gains. If the reimporting of goods into 
a State other than the exporting State is banned, however, 
the reimported goods must not be subject to different 
customs treatment, depending on whether or not MCAs 
are applied in the Member State concerned. 
2.2. The Committee considers that equal attention 
should be paid to preventing undesirable advantages, and 
to the need for goods to be subject to the same customs 
treatment. Provided that there is no change in the MCAs 
between the key points in time (date of export and that of 
reimport), no advantage will be obtained anyway. There 
is therefore no need for exclusion provisions in this case. 
However, steps must be taken to ensure that no 
advantages may be derived from changes in the MCAs. In 
cases where advantages might be obtained because of 
changes in respect of the exporting country, the 
authorities in that country would have to furnish the 
requisite evidence. 
2.3. Provided that steps are taken in this way to ensure 
that no unwarranted gains are made, there is no reason to 
oppose the reimportation of goods into a Member State 
other than the exporting State. The Committee therefore 
recommends that Article 13 be amended accordingly. 
The Chairman 
of the Economic and Social Committee