27. 9. 82 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 252/3 
Opinion on the proposal for a Council Regulation on the strengthening of controls on the 
application of Community rules on agricultural products 
The text referred to the Committee has been published in Official Journal of the European 
Communities No C 79 of 31 March 1982, page 6. 
A. LEGAL BASIS FOR THE OPINION 
On 26 March 1982 the Council referred the abovementioned proposal to the Economic and 
Social Committee in accordance with Article 43 of the Treaty establishing the European 
Economic Community. 
B. OPINION OF THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE 
The Economic and Social Committee prepared its opinion on the above matter at its 199th 
plenary session held in Brussels on 30 June and 1 July 1982. 
The full text of the opinion is as follows: 
THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE, 
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European 
Economic Community, and in particular Article 43 
thereof, 
Having regard to the request made by the Council of the 
European Communities on 26 March 1982 for an 
opinion on the proposal for a Council Regulation on the 
strengthening of controls on the application of 
Community rules on agricultural products, 
Having regard to the decision taken by the Committee 
chairman on 26 March 1982 instructing the Section for 
Agriculture to prepare the proceedings of the Committee 
on the matter, 
Having regard to the opinion adopted by the Section for 
Agriculture at its 235th meeting held on 3 June 1982, 
Having regard to the report made by the rapporteur, Mr 
Clavel, 
Having regard to the discussions at its 199th plenary 
session held on 30 June and 1 July 1982, 
HAS ADOPTED THE FOLLOWING OPINION 
unanimously: 
1. Since it is the duty of the Commission to ensure that 
the Treaty and the Regulations deriving from it are 
enforced correctly and uniformly throughout the 
Community, the Committee approves the draft 
instrument, subject to the following observations. 
2. General observations 
2.1. The Committee notes: 
— that the aim of the draft instrument is to supplement 
the rules already giving the Commission certain powers of verification, in order to cover all the cases in 
which monitoring may be advisable, 
— that the draft instrument allows the Commission 
henceforth to carry out checks in all circumstances, 
possibly without prior warning, and that checks will 
no longer only be retroactive, 
— that the draft instrument is a basic Regulation and will 
have to be supplemented by general rules and methods 
of application. 
2.2. The Committee therefore observes that this 
extremely brief draft instrument gives the Commission 
extensive powers with wide scope for interpretation. For 
this reason, the Committee asks to be consulted on the 
general rules of application. 
2.3. These general rules of application should cover 
such essential aspects as: 
— the range and limits of the powers and responsibilities 
of the officials appointed by the Commission to carry 
out the checks, 
— the conditions of access to documents belonging to the 
bodies and undertakings to be monitored, 
— the precise role of Member States during the 
checks, 
— the methods of cooperation between national officials 
and inspectors appointed by the Commission. 
The rules should also guarantee equality of treatment 
with respect to monitoring. 
2.4. The Committee emphasizes that the effects of the 
draft instrument under review will vary greatly, 
depending on whether the task of the inspectors' 
appointed by the Commission is (a) to ensure the correct 
No C 252/4 Official Journal of the 
interpretation of Regulations by Member States, or (b) to 
check that Member States are implementing Regulations 
correctly and uniformly, or (c) to fill the gaps in the 
various types of national monitoring laid down in the 
Regulations on agriculture. The Committee hopes that 
the rules to be adopted on the basis of this draft 
instrument will not lead to an excessive increase in the size 
and activity of the Community authority responsible for 
watching over the implementation of the common 
agricultural policy. 
2.5. Finally, the Committee feels that monitoring the 
application of Community rules would be made easier by 
(a) the introduction of monitoring instruments (e.g. 
viticultural land register, olive grove register), (b) 
improved coordination of national monitoring methods, 
and (c) an increase in the number of national 
inspectors. 
3. Specific observations 
3.1. Article 3.1 
The Committee notes that the wording used ('may') does 
not oblige the Commission to inform the Member State 
Done at Brussels, 30 June 1982. uropean Communities 27. 9. 82 
involved, or to arrange for officials of that State to take 
part. While agreeing with the need for rigorous 
monitoring, which the Commission seeks to ensure by 
carrying out checks without prior warning, the 
Committee points out that serious obstacles will be 
encountered - in the proper application of Article 1.2 for 
instance - and that it would therefore be more 
appropriate to use the following wording instead: 
'The Commission 
— shall inform, prior to the control, the Member 
State . . . 
— may arrange for agents of the Member State . . .' 
3.2. Article 4.1 
Considering the importance of the general rules of 
application, and the Committee's desire to state, if 
appropriate, its views on these rules, either by 
consultation or on its own initiative, the phrase 'as 
necessary' should be deleted. 
The Chairman 
of the 
Economic and Social Committee 
Tomas ROSEINGRAVE