30.3.92 NoC79/10 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities
4.Additionalremark justifytheperiodof3monthsimposedforthatpurpose.
3.11.Thevaccinerequirements inthecontingency
plansreferredtoinArticle17seemhighlytheoretical,
bearinginmindthelimited(almostcomplementary )use
ofvaccinesandthemethodusedtomanufacturethem.4.1.Theproposeddateoftheregulation'sentryinto
forceisunrealistic.TheCommitteesuggests1May
1992.
DoneatBrussels,29January1992.
TheChairman
oftheEconomicandSocialCommittee
MichaelGEUENICH
OpinionontheproposalforaCouncilRegulation (EEC)onurgentactionforthesupplyof
agriculturalproductstothepeopleofMoscowandStPetersburg(')
(92/C79/05)
On15January1992,theCouncildecidedtoconsulttheEconomicandSocialCommittee,
underArticle198oftheTreatyestablishingtheEuropeanEconomicCommunity ,onthe
abovementioned proposal.
TheCommitteedecidedtoappointMrPetersenasRapporteur-General ,underArticle18of
theRulesofProcedure,withthetaskofpreparingitsworkonthesubject.
Atits293rdplenarysession(meetingof29January1992)theEconomicandSocialCommittee
adoptedthefollowingOpinionunanimously .
1.Introduction
InviewofthecriticalfoodshortagesinMoscowand
StPetersburg,theEuropeanCouncildecidedatitsmeet­
inginMaastrichton9and10December1991tocharge
theECCommissionwiththetaskofdrawinguppro­
posalsasrapidlyaspossibleonECaidtotheinhabitants
ofthesetwocities.AfewdayslatertheECCommission
submittedapackageofmeasuresworthatotalofECU
200million.Ofthis,ECU150millionwastobespent
onagriculturalproductsandECU45milliononfood
products;theremainingECU5million,whichwasto
beusedforemergencyhumanitarian aid,wouldbe
spentonbuyingfoodproductsandmedicinesdirectly
onCommunitymarketsanddistributingthemtothe
needyofMoscowandStPetersburgvianon-govern­
mentalorganizations .AttheCouncilmeetingon
16December1991theECchangedtheseproportions ,allocatingECU100milliontothesupplyofagricultural
productsandECU95milliontofoodsupplies.Since
theproposalonthesupplyofagriculturalproductsis
alsobasedonArticle43oftheEECTreaty,theCouncil
hasaskedtheEconomicandSocialCommitteeforan
OpiniononthispartoftheECreliefoperation.
2.Generalcomments
TheCommitteeunreservedlysupportsthedecisionto
provideaid.Ithasalreadyemphasizedinanumberof
Opinionsthatactiontorelieveacutehardshipplaysan
importantroleinstabilizingtheeconomicandsocial
situationsofcountriesundergoingreforminEastern
Europe.Thedecisiontoconcentrateaidonjusttwo
citiesisalsoapplauded,sinceexperienceshowsthat
supplybottleneckshitpeoplelivinginurbanenviron­
mentsmuchharderandmorerapidlythanthoseliving
inruralareas.TheCommitteewouldliketoseesimilar (!)OJNoC11,17.1.1992,p.6.

30.3.92 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities NoC79/11
theoverallmonitoringof(a)thedeliveryoperations
and(b)applicationofthecriteriaforthedistribution
ofaidtothepeopleconcerned.InitsOpinionof
30January1991onfoodaidtotheUSSR,theCom­
mitteeattachedparticularimportancetoeffectivecon­
trolsandpointedoutthatfoodaidonlyservesits
purposeif'theproductsreallydoreachtheirdesti­
nationsandtheneedysectionsofthepopulation'(1).actiontakentohelpothermajorcitiesintheCommon­
wealthofIndependentStates(CIS)oftheformerSoviet
Union.TheUS-sponsoredInternationalAidConference
inWashington ,whichhasbeensetuptolookintothe
coordinationofallaidtotheindependentrepublics,
could,forexample,discussandcoordinatesuchcare­
fully-targetedactionatoneofitsnextmeetings.The
repeatedrequestthatothercitiesoftheCISbeincluded
inthepackageofmeasurestohelpMoscowand
StPetersburgisnodoubtwell-intentioned butwould
greatlydiminishtheeffectivenessoftheaidprovided.3.5.AtthesametimetheCommitteeapplaudsthe
intentionofsettingupaTaskForcecomprisingEC
Commissionrepresentatives andlogisticexperts(with
languageskills)fromECMemberStates.TheTask
Force'sjobwillbetosupervisethereliefoperations
andgainexperienceforfutureaction.3.Specificcomments
Article1
3.6.TheCommitteeconsidersthatproblemsmaybe
posedbythelocaldistributionsystemsenvisagedby
theECCommission—i.e.thepublicauctioningofaid
productstoso-calledwholesalers (behindwhomState
distributionagenciesnodoubtstilllurk)orthesaleof
aidproductstospecializedretailers.Theactioneering
methodhasbeenproposedbytheRussiansand
acceptedbytheECCommissioninsofarasthefirst
10millionECtrancheoffoodaidisconcerned .The
ECCommission takestheviewthatauctionsarenot
onlyeasytohandlebutarealsosuitableforpromoting
thecreationofmarket-economy distributionstructures :
theycouldalsoplayapartinhaltingtheupward
inflationaryspiralcausedbythefreeingofprices.3.1.Theeffectivenessof'urgentaction'depends,by
definition,onthespeedwithwhichitistaken.TheEC
Commissionshouldthereforetakeallsteps,incooper­
ationwiththeECMemberStates,toensurethatrelief
operationsarecompletedwithinafewweeks.Atthe
sametimetheCommitteeisfullyawarethatdelayscan
becausedbytransportproblems,thelackofcoordi­
nationinthedistributionandmarketingofaidconsign­
ments,on-the-spotdemarcationdisputesbetweenState
andmunicipalauthorities,andhealthprovisions (e.g.
thoseaffectingbeef).Nevertheless ,inviewofthefood
supplyproblems,itisimportanttokeepsuchdelaysto
aminimum .HeretheCommitteewouldalsoappealto
theRussianauthoritiestoshowthenecessaryflexibility
andimmediatelydismantleadministrative barriersfor
ever.Thissaid,itishardtounderstandwhythedecision
takenmorethanayearagotosendagriculturalprod­
uctstotheformerUSSRas'emergencyaid'isapparently
onlybeingimplementednow.3.7.Proceedsaretobechannelledintoa'counterpart
fund'designedtocushionthenegativeeffectsofprice
liberalizationbyprovidingfinancialsupportforneedy
sectionsofthepopulation .Municipalauthoritiesareto
workoutthedetailsofthesupportprogramme,clear
thesearrangementswiththeECdelegationanddecide
whichsectionsofthepopulationshouldreceivesup­
port.Thenextfewweekswillshowwhetherthepro­
cedurehasworkedsuccessfullyandwhetherithasreally
helpedtorelievehardshipamongtheinhabitantsof
MoscowandStPetersburgandtodefusethe'social
tension'inthosetwocities.Article2
3.2.TheCommitteeapproveswithoutreservation
theECCommission'sintentiontoobtaintheagricul­
turalproductsfromCommunityinterventionstocks.
TheCommitteelikewiseappreciatestheneedtoobtain
productsstraightfromCommunitymarketswhenthey
arenotavailablefrominterventionstocks.3.8.TheCommitteeitselfalreadyharboursconsider­
abledoubts.Foralthoughbothmethodsmakeecon­
omicsenseandcontainanumberofmarket-economy
elements,theyareunlikelytobesuccessfulunderpre­
vailingcircumstances .Inparticularitcanbeassumed
that,despitealltheECsupervision,theconsiderable
gapbetweenthe'marketprices'targetedbytheECand
the'blackmarketprices'willprovideapermanent
temptationtodisposeofaidproductsonblackmarkets,
betheyinMoscow,StPetersburg,orelsewhere.Nor
shouldoneignorethefactthat,realisticallyspeaking,3.3.TheCommitteeagainregretsthattransport
costsmustoncemorebecoveredfromtheECU
200millionaid.ItthereforecallsonallECMember
Statesinvolvedinthereliefoperationtoshouldera
proportionateshareofthetransportcostssothatthe
volumeofaiditselfdoesnotshrinkunduly.
Article4
3.4.TheCommitteestronglyendorsesthedecision
tomaketheECCommissionresponsibleinfuturefor(!)OJNoC69,18.3.1991.

NoC79/12 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities 30.3.92
moneyfromthe'counterpartfund'willonlybeavail­
ableaftersometime(whichmaybeconsiderable).
Giventheinflationarytrend,thismeansthatneedy
sectionsofthepopulationwillonlybeabletobuy
goods(assumingthatsuchgoodsareavailable)atmark­
edlyhigherprices.alreadyagreedbytheCommunity .Onceguarantees
havebeengivenbytheCommonwealth ofIndependent
States,thefirsttrancheofECU500millionshouldbe
madeavailableassoonaspossible.
4.2.Finally,theCommitteewouldrefertothepro­
posalmadeinitsopinionontherecentlyinitialled
EuropeanAgreementswithCzechoslovakia ,Poland
andHungary(!),namelythattheEuropeanCommunity
shouldmakefundsavailabletothesethreecountriesso
thattheiragriculturalproductscanbeexportedtoother
neighbouringEasternEuropeancountriesinexchange
forhardcurrency.Suchhelpshouldlastseveralyears;
itwouldatthesametimeconstituteapositivecontri­
butiontotheeconomicdevelopmentofEasternEurope.
(*)OJNoC339,31.12.1991.4.Conclusions
4.1.SincefoodshortagesintherepublicsoftheCIS
arenotonlyrefusingtogoawaybutareactually
growingdaily,theECCommissionshouldwhereposs­
iblestepupitsaidconsignments inthecomingweeks.
Thisdoesnotprimarilymeannewaction,butfirstand
foremost,thereleaseofECU1250millionofcredit
DoneatBrussels,29January1992.
TheChairman
oftheEconomicandSocialCommittee
MichaelGEUENICH
OpinionontheproposalforaCouncilDirectiveamendingDirective75/129/EEConthe
approximation ofthelawsoftheMemberStatesrelatingtocollectiveredundancies (1)
(92/C79/06)
On27November1991theCouncildecidedtoconsulttheEconomicandSocialCommittee,
underArticle100oftheTreatyestablishingtheEuropeanEconomicCommunity,onthe
abovementioned proposal.
TheSectionforSocial,Family,EducationalandCulturalAffairs,whichwasresponsiblefor
preparingtheCommittee'sworkonthesubject,adopteditsOpinionon21January1992in
thelightoftheReportbyMrLiverani.
Atits293rdplenarysession(meetingof30January1992)theEconomicandSocialCommittee
adoptedthefollowingOpinionby91votesto27with12abstentions .
1.Generalcomments
1.1.TheCommitteewelcomestheproposedrevision
ofDirective75/129/EECwhichwouldseemtoconform
topoints7,17and18oftheCommunityCharterofthe
FundamentalSocialRightsofWorkers,asannouncedin
theaccompanying CommissionActionProgramme .1.2.Themainpurposeoftheproposalistoensure
thatinformationandconsultationproceduresforcol­
lectiveredundancies laiddowninDirective75/129/EEC
alsoapplytoemployingundertakingsissuingcollective
redundanciesasaresultofproposalsordecisionstaken
bythecontrollingundertakingorbythecentraladmin­
istrationofamulti-establishment undertaking .This
issueisparticularlyimportantinthecontextof'1992'
andofincreasingmergers,acquisitionsandcorporate
restructuringofatransnationalcharacter. (»)OJNoC310,30.11.1991,p.5.