No C 67/12 Official Journal of the European Communities 15. 3. 91 
Proposal for a Council Decision setting up a programme of options specific to the remote and 
insular nature of die Canary Islands (Poseican) 
(91/C 67/14) 
COM(90) 686 final 
(Submitted by the Commission on 20 December 1990) 
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, 
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European 
Economic Community, 
Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No /.. 
on the application of the provisions of Community law 
to the Canary Islands, and in particular Article 9 thereof, 
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, 
Having regard to the opinion of the European 
Parliament, 
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and 
Social Committee, 
Whereas the Canary Islands suffer from a serious 
structural lack of development aggravated by a number 
of constraints (remoteness, isolation, small size, difficult 
terrain and climate) whose unchanging nature and 
combined impact have serious effects on their economic 
and social development; whereas these special constraints 
make it necessary to step up Community support in 
order to ensure that the Canary Islands are fully involved 
in the dynamic of the internal market; whereas this 
Community support takes the form of operations under 
the reformed Structural Funds (enjoying the priority 
given to the Objective 1 regions), but must also ensure 
that the special constraints affecting the Canary Islands 
are taken into account in the application of common 
policies, in accordance with the Community approach to 
the remoter regions, of which the adoption and 
implementation of the Poseidom programme for the 
French overseas departments is the first practical 
example; 
Whereas to achieve this, the Council, pursuant to Article 
9 of Regulation (EEC) No ..../.., must adopt a multi-
sector programme of operations involving legislative 
measures and financial commitments to allow for the 
special constraints on the Canary Islands in the 
application of common policies; Whereas, for the purposes of implementing this 
programme, the necessary legal acts will be adopted 
either by the Council or by the Commission, as appro­
priate, before 31 December 1992; whereas the duration 
of the application of the measures to be adopted could, 
in certain cases, be linked to the process of strengthening 
the integration of the Canary Islands into common 
policies, or extend beyond this process, given the 
permanent constraints which are a particular feature of 
the Canary Islands; 
Whereas this programme must be based on the twofold 
principle that the Canary Islands form an integral part of 
the Community and that the regional reality deriving 
from their particular geographical situation and their 
historical economic and fiscal system must be 
recognized; 
Whereas, for this reason, the special measures laid down 
by the programme of operations must be part of the 
process of including the Canary Islands in the customs 
territory of the Community and extending to these 
Islands other provisions of Community law as stipulated 
in Regulation (EEC) No /.. ; whereas these 
measures must accordingly take into account the special 
characteristics and constraints of the Canary Islands 
without undermining the integrity and coherence of the 
Community legal order; 
Whereas the economic effects of specific measures must 
remain limited to the territory of the Canary Islands 
without affecting directly the functioning of the common 
market; 
Whereas Community rules must take account of the 
specific nature of the Canary Islands and permit their 
economic and social development, particularly in those 
areas where the fragile nature of island territories is 
particularly acute, such as transport, taxation, the social 
sector, research and development, or the protection of 
15.3.91 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 67/13 
the environment in view of the vulnerability of the 
Canary Islands to the increasing pressures of tourism; 
Whereas the exceptional geographical situation of the 
Canary Islands in relation to sources of supply for 
products used as inputs in certain food sectors, which are 
essential for current consumption or processing in the 
archipelago, entails costs that are a severe handicap for 
this area; whereas there is a need, in this connection, to 
make special arrangements for the supply of these 
products within the limits of local market needs and 
taking account of local production and traditional trade 
flows; 
Whereas, for the same reasons and as part of the phased 
introduction of the common customs tariff, there is a 
need to create the possibility of special tariffs or dero­
gations from the common commercial policy for certain 
sensitive products; whereas customs arrangements may 
also prove to be appropriate for the regime applicable to 
the Canary Islands free zones; 
Whereas the special production conditions in the Canary 
Islands require that particular attention be paid to 
applying the common agricultural policy to this region; 
whereas appropriate measures are needed to assist the 
development of the fruit and vegetable and flowers and 
live plant sectors; whereas these measures will have to 
promote the growing of tropical products in particular; 
whereas it will also be necessary to introduce other 
measures to support domestic production intended for 
local consumption; 
Whereas certain flanking measures are required to 
accompany the application of the common fisheries 
policy to the Canary Islands in order to take account of 
the particular features of local production; 
Whereas the preparation, implementation, monitoring 
and evaluation of the measures provided for in this 
programme require a partnership between the 
Commission and the competent national and regional 
authorities; whereas this partnership must permit 
complementarity between the measures laid down in the 
programme and those applied at national and regional 
level; Whereas Spain and the region must take account of the 
measures and operations under this programme in 
drafting future regional development plans; whereas the 
Commission, within the scope of its powers, will take 
steps to ensure that this programme is consistent with the 
operations of the Structural Funds and other Community 
financial instruments, 
HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS: 
Article 1 
1. Pursuant to Article 9 of Regulation (EEC) No 
.../..., an action programme for the Canary Islands, 
known as Poseican (programme of options specific to the 
remote and insular nature of the Canary Islands) and set 
out in the Annex, is hereby established. This programme 
shall cover legislative measures and financial 
commitments. 
2. Within the context of the powers conferred upon it 
by the Treaty, the Council shall adopt the provisions 
necessary for the execution of this programme and invite 
the Commission to submit the relevant proposals as soon 
as possible. 
Article 2 
The financial resources required to implement the 
measures relating to agricultural structures appearing in 
this programme shall be determined in the annual 
budgetary procedures. 
Article 3 
This Decision shall take effect on ... 1991. 
Article 4 
This Decision shall be published in the Official Journal of 
the European Communities. 
No C 67/14 Official Journal of the European Communities 15. 3. 91 
ANNEX 
PROGRAMME OF OPTIONS SPECIFIC TO THE REMOTE AND INSULAR NATURE OF THE 
CANARY ISLANDS (POSEICAN) 
TITLE I 
General principles 
1. Poseican will be based on the twofold principle that 
the Canary Islands form an integral part of the 
Community and that the regional reality, characterized 
by the special features and constraints specific to the 
region concerned as distinct from the Community as a 
whole, must be recognized. 
2. Implementation of the measures and operations set 
out in the Poseican programme will in principle be 
carried out before 31 December 1992, through the 
adoption either by the Council or by the Commission, as 
appropriate, of the necessary legal acts, in accordance 
with the provisions and procedures laid down in the 
Treaty. 
3.1. The Poseican programme will help attain the 
general aims of the Treaty by contributing to the 
achievement of the following specific objectives: 
— the realistic integration of the Canary Islands into the 
Community by establishing an appropriate 
framework for the application of common policies in 
this area, 
— the full involvement of the Canary Islands in the 
dynamic of the internal market by making optimum 
use of existing Community regulations and 
instruments, 
— assisting the Canary Islands to catch up economically 
and socially, principally through Community 
financing of the specific measures contained in 
Poseican. 
3.2. The Member State and the region will take into 
account the specific measures and operations contained 
in Poseican when drawing up future regional devel­
opment plans. Within the scope of its powers, the 
Commission, for its part, will take steps to ensure that 
the operations conducted under Poseican are consistent 
with the operations of the Structural Funds and other 
Community financial instruments. 
3.3. The drafting, implementation, monitoring and 
evaluation of the operations and measures contained in 
Poseican will be carried out in partnership by the 
Commission and the national and regional authorities 
concerned. Efforts will be made to ensure that Poseican 
operations and those conducted at national and regional 
levels complement each other as far as possible. 4. The measures and operations contained in Poseican 
fall within the framework of the inclusion of the Canary 
Islands in the customs territory of the Community and 
the extension to these Islands of Community law in force 
and should enable the specific nature and constraints of 
the Canary Islands to be taken into account without 
undermining the integrity and coherence of the 
Community legal order. 
TITLE II 
Application of common policies in the Canary Islands 
5. Directives or other measures adopted in connection 
with the internal market and other common policies will 
have to take account of the special characteristics of the 
Canary Islands and promote their economic and social 
development, particularly in the fields of transport and 
taxation, social matters, research and technological 
development (without prejudice to the Community 
framework programme on this topic) and protection of 
the environment. 
TITLE III 
Specific measures to mitigate the effects of the excep­
tional geographical situation 
6.1. Within six months from the date on which this 
Decision takes effect, the Council or the Commission, as 
appropriate, will adopt the measures laid down in this 
Article which are intended to alleviate the impact of the 
additional costs involved in maintaining supplies of agri­
cultural products resulting from the remote and insular 
nature of the Canary Islands. 
6.2. In the case of essential agricultural products for 
consumption or processing in the archipelago, this 
Community action will consist, within the limits of local 
market requirements and taking into account local 
production and traditional trade flows, in: 
— exempting from levies and/or customs duties 
products originating in non-member countries; in this 
connection special attention will be paid to the possi­
bilities of supplying the Canary Islands from nearby 
developing countries, 
15. 3. 91 Official journal of the 
— permitting, in parallel and in competition with 
products from non-member countries and on equi­
valent terms, the supply of Community products 
taken into intervention storage or available on the 
Community market. 
The principles underlying the application of this system 
will be as follows: 
(a) With regard to the supply of inputs needed to sustain 
certain processing and/or packaging industries 
making products for the local market, this system 
should allow these industries to obtain supplies direct 
from markets in non-Community or Community 
countries, up to the amounts stipulated in forecast 
supply balances, so that the goods produced can 
meet the requisite specifications, notably as regards 
quality. In the case of sugar in particular, the system 
must allow traditional trade flows to be maintained. 
(b) In the case of supplies of other basic products, in 
order to ensure that these measures have an impact 
on the level of production costs and consumer prices, 
a system will be set up to monitor this impact up to 
the end-user stage. Should the impact be judged 
inadequate, the supply of unprocessed cereals may be 
replaced, in quantities to be determined at the appro­
priate time, by the equivalent in flour form. 
(c) In view of the complexity and diversity of supply 
circuits in the Canary Islands, the Commission will 
be required to review the operation of the provisions 
adopted on the basis of the principles set out above 
with a view to making any adjustments needed. The 
first review will be carried out at the end of the first 
year of application of these provisions. 
To help maintain local cereal production, no co-respon­
sibility levy will be charged. 
6.3. Temporary restrictions may be applied to imports 
of potatoes to the Canary Islands at sensitive times, with 
provision for the gradual widening of the quota until it is 
finally abandoned after seven marketing years. 
6.4. Community aid to olive oil consumption will 
apply to the Canary Islands on the terms in force in the 
Community as constituted on 31 December 1985. 
6.5. To avoid any deflection of trade, products 
covered by the measures referred to in paragraphs 6.2 
and 6.4 may not be re-dispatched, whether in the 
unaltered state or processed, to other parts of the 
Community. European Communities No C 67/15 
6.6. Imports of raw or other tobaccos for use in the 
manufacture of tobacco and originating in non-member 
countries will be exempt from customs duty up to the 
amount required by the tobacco industry in the Canary 
Islands to cater for local consumption and existing trade 
flows in manufactured tobacco and with due account for 
supply possibilities offered by the ACP States. 
6.7. To promote the development of stockfarming to 
meet local market needs, a system of aid for the 
purchase of breeding animals originating in the 
Community will be set up. Until such time as local 
production has developed to a satisfactory level, this 
system may be accompanied by temporary measures, 
with a phased reduction in quantities, to facilitate the 
purchase of animals for fattening (cattle and pigs) and 
the procurement of certain processed meat-based 
products (pigmeat, beef/veal or poultry). These measures 
will combine exemption from levies for the products in 
question originating in non-member countries and aid 
for the procurement of such products from other parts of 
the Community, to give such products access on equi­
valent terms. The situation will need to be reviewed after 
the system has been in operation for four years. 
7.1. At the request, with supporting documents, of the 
competent Spanish authorities, specific tariff measures or 
derogations from the common commercial policy may be 
adopted on a case by case basis for certain sensitive 
products: 
— measures to take account of particular problems in a 
given sector of local production intended for local 
consumption or tourism, with a view to maintaining 
an exemption equivalent to that applied prior to the 
entry into force of Council Regulation (EEC) No 
.../..., 
— measures to allow access for consumer goods such as 
textiles, clothes, optical and electronic equipment or 
means of transport. 
7.2. The measures referred to in paragraph 7.1 must 
be carefully tailored to the Canary Islands' domestic 
market to avoid any deflection of trade. The application 
of such measures must, in principle, be limited to the 
transitional period provided for under Article 6 of 
Council Regulation (EEC) No .../... for the gradual 
adoption of the Common Customs Tariff to the Canary 
Islands. In the year preceding the expiry of this period 
the Commission will evaluate the measures adopted and 
review the situation. 
8. Inward processing operations carried out in the 
Canary Islands free zones will not be subject to the 
economic conditions attaching to these arrangements. 
No C 67/16 Official Journal of the European Communities 15. 3. 91 
TITLE IV 
Specific measures to support Canary Island products 
9. In view of the economic and social importance of 
bananas for the Canary Islands and the objective of a 
fair standard of living for producers, the Commission 
will, without waiting for the adoption of common rules, 
decide on structural action to assist this sector. With a 
view to improving the conditions of production and 
competition, such action will include measures 
concerning research, harvesting, presentation and 
processing, transport, storage, marketing and commercial 
promotion. 
The Council, acting on a proposal from the Commission, 
will lay down provisions for bananas before 31 
December 1992 with a view to the completion of the 
single market. 
10.1 Within six months from the date on which this 
Decision takes effect the Council or the Commission, as 
appropriate, will adopt the measures referred to in this 
article. 
10.2. Measures for the fruit and vegetable and flowers 
and live plants sectors may take the form of: 
— temporary aid per hectare for programmes carried 
out by producers and producer groups or organiz­
ations to diversify production and/or improve 
product quality; these programmes, from which 
tomato-growing would be excluded, should serve to 
develop tropical products in particular. Additional aid 
may be granted in cases where these programmes 
include technical assistance measures, 
— aid for the marketing of tropical products where the 
volume of trade does not exceed 10 000 tonnes for 
each product, under marketing season contracts 
between Canary Island producers and operators in 
other parts of the Community, 
— the funding of an economic analysis and forward 
planning study of the processed fruit and vegetable 
sector (particularly tropical fruit and vegetables). 
10.3. Other measures to help support domestic 
product for local consumption may take the form of: 
— specific aid per hectare for potato-growing, within 
the limits of the present areas under cultivation, irres­
pective of any measures which might be adopted in the context of a market organization for this 
product, 
— to satisfy the consumer habits for wines produced in 
the archipelago, exemption from compulsory distil­
lation and non-application of voluntary distillation 
laid down by Community legislation and 
non-application of the grubbing premium, 
— in the dairy sector, the setting of the quota at a level 
which will allow reasonable development of 
production in the Canary Islands without, however, 
disrupting traditional trade flows, 
— in the case of animal products for the local market, 
specific aid for producers' groups or organizations 
for training and technical assistance programmes, 
— specific aid to support products of traditional Canary 
Island stockfarming and intended for local 
consumption. 
10.4. To encourage farmers in the Canary Islands to 
supply high-quality products and to promote the 
marketing of these products, the Community may 
finance the design and promotion of a logo. 
10.5. Directive 77/93/EEC on protective measures 
against the introduction into the Member States of 
harmful organisms of plants or plant products will be 
adapted to accommodate the specific plant health 
situation in the Canary Islands. 
10.6. Special exceptions may be made, on the basis of 
duly substantiated requests from the Spanish authorities, 
to provisions restricting or preventing the granting of 
ceruin types of structural aid to reflect the special 
characteristics of agriculture in the Canary Islands. 
11.1. In the case of fishery products, a reinforced 
system of aid will be established in favour of producers' 
organizations, which must be set up within five years of 
the date on which Council Regulation (EEC) No .../.. . 
enters into force; this aid will apply for five years 
following the date on which these organizations are 
recognized. 
11.2. In view of the special situation of the sardine 
market and the problem of the price of this product in 
the Canary Islands, a conversion factor specific to 
sardines marketed within the Canary Islands will be 
applied in accordance with Article 12 (2) of Regulation 
(EEC) No 3796/81. Within two years following the 
introduction of the market organization in the Canary 
15. 3. 91 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 67/17 
Islands, the Commission will investigate the possibility of 
applying arrangements to bring prices into line. As the 
Community price system can only apply if the products 
put on sale are accessible to all the operators concerned, 
the Member State and the Community will take the 
necessary steps to ensure that the sardine marketing 
structures in the Canary Islands are adapted to meet this 
condition. 
11.3. The Community will endeavour, within the 
scope of its powers in international trade, to obtain improvements from its partners in order to facilitate 
Community exports of cephalopods to the countries 
concerned. 
TITLE V 
Final provision 
12. The Commission will report annually to the 
Council on progress in the implementation of the 
Poseican programme.