ARCHIVESHISTORIQUES
DELACOMMISSION
COLLECTION RELIEEDES
DOCUMENTS "COM"
COM(72)1607
Vol.1972/0225

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!.•xiiv.

THSCOMMUNITY'S RELATIONS
WITHNORiVAY
(Communication oftheCommissiontotheCouncil)

1. Following theNorwegian request of25October 1972 forthe
opening ofnegotiations with theCommunity .with a.view toconcluding
anagreement between itandNorway ,theCouncil ,atitsmeeting of
6November last ,invited theCommission toconduct exploratory talks
ashad been requested bytheNorwegian Government .
These talks took place onseveral occasions during November and
were essentially devoted tothe explanations and clarifications
provided bytheCommission astothescope andraison d'etre ofthe
various provisions intheagreements concluded with theother
non-acceding EFTA countries .Atthe end ofthetalks ,theNorwegian
Government informed theCommunity intheMemorandum itsubmitted on
kDecember ofitswishes asregards thecontents oftheagreement it
aimed atnegotiating with theCommunity . ;'
2. InitsMemorandum theNorwegian Government confirmed that the
agreements signed with theother non-acceding EFTA States on
22July ofthis year constituted areasonable basis foranagreement
with theCommunity .TheCommission feels that this being sothe
negotiations could begin inthevery near future ,with thepreparatory
work atCommunity level being limited tothose aspects which are ;
particular totheagreement envisaged with Norway .
The Norwegian Government also set out initsMemorandum "certain
wishes asregards departures from thepattern oftheagreements iwith the
other EFTA States .For themost part they concern fishery ^products ,
industrial products subject tospecial arrangements andmatters bf
sea transport . ' '•

MIndustrial products subject tospecial arrangements
3. Asregards themost important products subject intheagreements
with theother EFTA States tospecial arrangements ,theNorwegian
Government analyzed theeconomic andbusiness situation inthe
industries concerned .Itwent ontorequest that exceptions tothe
normal timetable fortariff reductions belimited asfar aspossible
inview oftheconsiderable effect that such exceptions arelikely to
have owing tothe composition ofNorwegian exports .
It.may benoted inthis respect that the economic problems
raised inthis field aresimilar tothose theCommunity faced with the
other 2FTA countries .Itdoes not therefore appear that thelist
ofproducts subject tospecial transitional arrangements when
imported into theCommunity should differ substantially from the list
appearing intheProtocols onsensitive products intheagreements
concluded with countries having acomparable economic structure ,-
This list covered the following products ,ifthose products ,
areomitted forwhich Norwegian exports arenegligible ornil :staple
fibre ,paper andpaperboard ,ferro-alloys ,special steels ,lead ,
zinc ,aluminium ,rare metals ;itaccounted forabout 3G/°ofthe
Community 'simports fromNorway .^-</henthis percentage isconsidered ,
it .must also beborne inmind that subject totheoptional re­
introduction ofcustows duties where indicative ceilings are exceeded ,
onmost oftheproducts exported from Norway theacceding States will
not beincreasing customs duties .
*••/«••
Calculated onthebasis oftheaverage forimports from 19&9
1971 .

1
3-
Two products call Jbrspecial attention :
(i)Unwrought aluminium
Norway xsone oftheCommunity 'smain suppliers oFthis product .
When concluding theagreements with the other non-applicant iSS'TA
countries ,theCommunity had based the tariff arrangements applicable
toaluminium onthe assumption that Norway would accede tothe
Community ,hence full integration ofNorwegian production inthe
Community 'sproduction over afour and ahalf year transitional
period .Now integration will not take place .Itwould therefore
seem sufficient toapply toNorway the same seven year tariff
dismantlement arrangements ashave been adopted foraluminium
originating intheother non-acceding SFTA countries .
Under these circumstances ,measures designed toimpose
quantitative guidelines onthebasis oftheprinciples already
negotiated with theother SFTA countries should.be applied to
imports ofaluminium originating inNorway .
(ii)Silicon carbide (CCTheading No.2è.56A )
This product ismanufactured in.Norway mostly forexport ......
purposes andbenefits from extremely lowproduction costs due to
thepresence ofcheap sources ofelectric power .Itwould therefore
seem desirable toallow Community enterprises manufacturing this
product alonger period ofadaptation than' the'*noi 1mal"'transitional
period and toinstitute special measures imposing guidelines
forimports .Silicon carbide should therefore bemade subject to
theseven year arrangements with thepossibility ofintroducing
indicative ceilings . '
With theinclusion ofthis product ,thepercentage ofproducts
-~subject tospecial 'arrangements up'on import into theCommunity
would increase byless than 1$,

-U-
TheNorwegian Memorandum also pointed outthat products subject
tospecial transitional arrangements intheother JSFTA agreements would
cover ,where Norway isconcerned ,avery large 'proportion ofits
exports totheCommunity .This percentage isinfact only exceeded
byFinland .
Inthis respect ,theCommission feels that ,aswasdone for
theother EFTA countries ,anyrequests made byNorway forthe
introduction ofspecial transitional arrangements forcertain products
ofitsindustry should beconsidered attheproper time ontheir own
economic merits .
Farming and fishery products inparticular
4. Thepattern adopted bytheCommunity fortheagreements with
thenon-acceding JSFTA States was theprogressive attainment ofafree
trade area covering industrial products .Inthe cases ofAustria ,
Finland ,Switzerland andSweden ,itcovers thebulk oftrade inaccord­
ance with Article XXIV oftheGATT ,asmay beseen intheTable
below ,which indicates theapproximate percentage ofproducts not
covered .Although forNorway this percentage issubstantially
higher than that for the other four countries ,itdoes not affect .,
conformity with GA^T criteria .
ohare o.fagricultural products intheenlarged Community 'strade
with thenon-acceding iiiFTA States (Basis tvalue ofimports for
average ,of1968-70 )
Austria Finland Iceland Norway Portugal oweden owitzerland
uommunityis iaports
from each country 6.9 2.9 68.9 11.4 22.6 3.5 4.9
Imports into ,each
country from the
Com''.unity '7.1 5.3 21.7 5.8 2.7 4.7 10.2
"rade inboth
directions 7.0 4.0 40.4 8.4 9.8 4.1 8.2

Only inthe cases ofIceland and Finland did provision have to
bemade for concessions bytheCommunity for certain agricultural
products inorder toobtain acover which corresponded toGATT
requirements . .
Norway 'scase may not therefore beassimilated tothat ofthe
above two countries .Its exports not covered byindustrial free
trade mostly concern the fishing industry .Asregards fresh fish and
preserved fish ,the Comaunity' sinternal suppliers are already
incapable ofmeeting demand ,which furthermore continues toexpand
rapidly .The incidence ofthe customs duties tobereintroduced
progressively bytheacceding countries inaccordance with the .
timetable laid down bytheTreaty ofAccession might not under these
circumstances have adecisive influence onthetrend oftrade ;any
difficulties could beexamined bythe Joint Committee
imder the provision intheagreements foragricultural questions .
Further ,the customs duty indicated inthe CCT for fish meal
isonly 2%and formost crude fats andoils ofmarine manraals theduty
iszero .The inclusion ofthese products would not therefore beofany
real economic significance ..
■*, ·'· .: ."·· «·
■These various points may lead theCommunity toconsider ,as
itdid for the other non-acceding 5FTA countries incircumstances
similar to'Morway 's,that itdoes not appear advisable togobeyond
the framework limited toindustrial products which was adopted bythe
Community inthe agreements inquestion ,despite thepressing requests
formulated bycertain partners inrespect ofone orother oftheir product
which until now had abigmarket for example intheUnited Kingdom .

5* Stressing initsMemorandum theimportance foritscountry of
fishing ,theNorwegian Government pointed tothespecial significance
ofthis industry foritsnorthern regions and tothe fact that the
situation inthose regions isnotvery different from that in .Iceland ,
acountry which has obtained concessions from theCommunity for its
fishery products ,
Without inanyway wishing tocontest these regional features
(which hadbeen duly taken -into account during themembership
negotiations ),theCommission must nonetheless make thepoint that the
agreements with thenon-acceding EFT A.States arelimited totrade
questions .
'.That ismore ,the concessions made toIceland were tied upwith
theproblem offishing rights .Similarly ,this problem offishing
rights wastaken into consideration ^"with aview toachieving free
trade ,inaccordance with theStockholm Convention ,for quick frozen
fish fillets .
Inthis respect ,itmight beuseful toascertain during the
negotiations how theNorwegian Government views thequestion offishing
limits inits future relations with theCommunity inconnection with
itsrequests inthe fishing sector ,for theNorwegian Memorandum of
kDecember makes noreference tothis question ,theimportance of
which must not beunderestimated ifatalater stage theCouncil
should wish toexamine theNorwegian requests ingreater detail .
Onthebasis oftheinformation soobtained ,theCommission 'could if'
necessary make further points with regard totheelements ofthe
agreement asawhole .
•••/•••
"During thenegotiations ontheStockholm Convention ,itwas
understood ,inaddition toaquantitative limitation bytheUnited
Kingdom ,that free trade would beended ,barring aunanimous vote by
theCouncil ,should theconditions ofcompetition inthefishing
industry bechanged fundamentally .
when Iceland acceded totheConvention in1970 ,itwas agreed to
widen thequantitative limit onaccess totheUnited Kingdom by
adding toitasystem ofminimum export prices .

faea transport
6. Oftheother points raised intheNorwegian Memorandum ,only
theproblem of sea transport requires aspecial position tobe
adopted .TheMember States have for along time been taking part
inthe work carried out inthis field inthe various international
organizations ,inparticular inthe O.HEC ,and later inthe OJSCD .
TheCommunity assuch hasnotyetworked outacommon policy todeal
with these problems ,and itisnot excluded that the situation will
change asaresult ofenlargement *
Theposition adopted bytheCommunity asregards the other
EFTApartners onquestions ofthe same kind has led ittorefuse any
treaty commitment involving anobligation tohold -consultations of
this kind atalater date . ■ *■?•
This innoway excludes thepossibility inthe future ,however ,
where circumstances make itdesirable ,ofholding continuing contacts
with theNorwegian Government onquestions ofcommon interest inthis
field .Contacts ofthis kind might well prove tobeuseful and
desirable .The same considerations might also apply toother problems ,
such aspetroleum . -
TheCommission intends tobring the above points tothenotice
oftheNorwegian Delegation during thenegotiations .
Itisobvious that apossible future application ofthe
"evolutionary clause "would not inany way beaffected .

7. TheCouncil ,and therepresentatives ofthe iCCSC Member States
meeting within theCouncil ,will find annexed tothis Communicatioh
theproposals fordecisions ontheopening ofnegotiations with
Norway .Theproposals include inannex theguidelines onthe basis
ofwhich these negotiations should bec'nducted .These stem partly
from thegeneral principles inthe original guidelines for the'
negotiations with theother non-acceding iSi'TA States (Internal Council
Document No.697 of9November 1971 )and from theelements which are
conmon totheagreements signed or'initialled on22July 1972 with
the countries having aneconomic structure similar tothat ofNorway .
Inorder totake into account thewish expressed bytheNorwegian
Government that tariff reductions begin on1April 1973 »itwould
appear tobehighly desirable for theCouncil todeliberate onthe
annexed draft decisions assoon aspossible .

Draft
jRecommendation
for aCouncil Décision
concerning the opening of
negotiations with Norway

THE COUNCIL OFTHii SJHOPEAIm COMMUNITIES ,
Having regard toArticle 113oftheTreaty establishing theEEC ,
Having regard totheRecommendation oftheCommission ,
!
Whereas theGovernment oftheKingdom ofNorway lodged arequest on
25October 1972 ;
HA3DECIDED A.oFOLLOJS :
SCLE AKTICLE
The Commission isauthorized toopen negotiations with aview to
concluding anagreement between the EEC andNorway .
Itshall conduct these negotiations inaccordance with the annexed
guidelines ,subject toanysubsequent guidelines ,with theassistance
ofthe Special Committee onArticle 113 »

ANNEX
The general principles oftheAgreement will bethose appearing
onpages 1toMofInternal Document No.697of9November 1971 •
TheAgreement will cover products ofChapters 25to99®fthe
Brussels Nomenclature ,except products ofthose chapters' listed in
Annex IItotheTreaty andproducts ofChapters 1to2blisted in
Table I®ftheAnnex toProtocol No.2oftheAgreements signed bythe
Cemmunity on22July 1972 .
Theprovisions ©ftheAgreement shall inprinciple bethe same as
those intheagreements of22July 1972 .with Sweden ,Switzerland ,
Austria and Finland .
Asregards spécial import arrangements :
(a)IntheCemmunity :
»
The provisions ofthe oftheAgreement will take over
Articles 1to3ofProtocol No.1oftheabove Agreements ,
Thelist tobeput totheNorwegian Delegation forArticle 2
ofthis Protocol isgiven below :
Common Customs
Tariff
heading No»Description !
28.56 Carbides (forexample ,silicon carbide ,boron carbide ,:
metal carbides ): ' ' ' i
. I
A.0?silicon ' - j
56.01i
Han-made fibres (discontinuous ),not ;carded ,combed or !
otherwise prepared forspinning *: !
B. Regenerated textile fibres !
l
56,02 Continuous filament forthemanufacture ofman-made j
fibres (discontinuous ): j
B.0fregenerated textile fibres , j
>
ex73.02; l
Ferro-alloys ,excluding ferro-nickel i
1
.73.15 Alloy steel andhigh carbon steel intheforms mentioned !
inheadings Nos .73«06 to73«1 ^ ''■ ;
tv? ;
•i■/•••

T2"
Coramon Customs
Tariff
heading No.Description
76.01 Unwrought aluminium ;aluminium waste and scrap :
A. Unwrought
78.01 jUnwrought lead (including argentiferous lead );
lead waste and scrap
A»Unwrought :
II.Other
79.01 Unwrought zinc ;zincwaste andscrap : I
A.*Unwrought
18.01 Tungsten (Wolfram ),unwrought orwrought ,and
articles thereof
81.02 Molybdenum ,unwrought orwrought ,andarticles
thereof -
81.03 Tantalum ,unwrought orwrought ,andarticles thereof
81.01 » Other base metals ,unwrought orwrought ,and
articles thereof ;cermets ,unwrought orwrought ,
and articles thereof :
B. Cadmium
C. Cobalt
II.Wrought
D.Chromium I
E.Germanium ! I
F. Hafnium (celtium ) .
G.Manganèse
H.Niobium (colombium )
IJ.Antomony
K. Titanium
L.Vanadium I
M. .Uranium depleted inU235 I
0.Zireonium
P. Rhénium
Q.Gallium ;indium ;thallium
R»Cermets !
i

-3-
The indicative ceilings will beestablished bytheCommission
with thehelp oftheSpecial Committee onArticle 113 »onthe same
bases asthose adopted for establishing the ceilings for 1973 inthe
agreements referred toabove ;
(b) inNorway :
TheCommission ,helped bytheSpecial Committee onArticle 113 »
will consider anyNorwegian requests ,taking care toestablish a
balance corresponding tothat achieved intheagreements of
22July 1972 .

Draf t
Decision oftheRepresentatives
oftheGovernments oftheECSC Member States ,
meeting within theCouncil ,concerning
the opening ofnegotiations with Norway

-1-
The Representatives oftheGovernments oftheMember States of
theEuropean Coal andSteel Community ,meeting within theCouncil ,
'.'hereas the above Member States have concluded between them the Treaty
establishing the European Coal and Steel Community ;
!
Whereas they have also concluded the Treaty establishing the
European Economic Community ,Article 232 ofwhich stipulates that the
provisions ofthat Treaty shall notmodify the provisions ofthe
Treaty establishing theEuropean Coal andSteel Community ,in
particular asregards therights and obligations ofMember States ;
Whereas theGovernment oftheKingdom ofNorway lodged arequest
on ...
KAV2 D3CIDED ASFCLLO. /S:
1, TheCommission isrequested toopen negotiations with Norway
onbehalf oftheMember States .The aim ofthese negotiations will
betoascertain whether anagreement ispossible for products
covered bythe European Coal and Steel Community onthe bases
appearing intheannex and subject tosubsequent guidelines .
2. Inimplementing this decision ,theCommission will be
assisted byrepresentatives oftheMember State .
.•••/•••

ANNEX
The provisions oftheAgreement shall inprinciple bethe
sarae ^"asthose intheAgreements with theother non-acceding EFTA
States of22July 1972 ,according tothe choice tobemade bythe
Norwegian Government asregards price rules between the twosolutions
appearing onpage *+5ofInternal Document No.697of9November 1971 *
Certain products forwhich special import arrangements inthe
Community should bemade areincluded inthelist given inthedraft
SEC Council Decision .