Keywords

Summary



Keywords

1 . ACCESSION OF NEW MEMBER STATES TO THE COMMUNITIES - HELLENIC REPUBLIC - MEASURES ADOPTED BY THE INSTITUTIONS BINDING ON THE ACCEDING STATE - MEASURES ADOPTED PRIOR TO THE DATE ON WHICH ACCESSION TOOK EFFECT

( DECISION OF THE COUNCIL OF 24 MAY 1979 , ART . 2 ; ACT OF ACCESSION , ART . 2 )

2 . ACCESSION OF NEW MEMBER STATES TO THE COMMUNITIES - HELLENIC REPUBLIC - PROCEDURE FOR ADAPTING MEASURES ADOPTED BY THE INSTITUTIONS - NOT APPLICABLE TO MEASURES TO BE ADOPTED DURING THE INTERIM PERIOD

( ACT OF ACCESSION , ARTS 22 AND 146 ; GENERAL DECISIONS NOS 2794/80 AND 3381/80 )

3 . ECSC TREATY - PRODUCTION - SYSTEM OF QUOTAS - EXISTENCE OF A MANIFEST CRISIS - ASCERTAINMENT IN THE LIGHT OF THE SITUATION IN THE COMMUNITY AS A WHOLE

( ECSC TREATY , ART . 58 )

4 . ECSC - PRODUCTION - SYSTEM OF QUOTAS - RESTRICTIONS ON IMPORTS FROM NON-MEMBER COUNTRIES - CONDITIONS FOR IMPOSITION - POWER OF COMMISSION TO ASSESS

( ECSC TREATY , ARTS 58 ( 1 ) AND 74 )

5 . ECSC TREATY - PRODUCTION - SYSTEM OF QUOTAS - ESTABLISHMENT ON AN EQUITABLE BASIS - COMMISSION ' S FREEDOM OF CHOICE - TAKING INTO ACCOUNT OF UNDERTAKINGS ' ACTUAL PRODUCTION - PERMISSIBILITY - PRODUCTION CAPACITY OF UNDERTAKINGS - EXCLUSION JUSTIFIED

( ECSC TREATY , ART . 58 ( 2 ); GENERAL DECISION NO 2794/80 , ART . 4 )

6 . ECSC - PRODUCTION - SYSTEM OF PRODUCTION QUOTAS FOR STEEL - ESTABLISHMENT ON AN EQUITABLE BASIS - TAKING INTO ACCOUNT OF UNDERTAKINGS ' REFERENCE PRODUCTION - CASES OF ADAPTATION - PARTICIPATION IN VOLUNTARY REDUCTION PROGRAMMES - REDUCTION RESULTING FROM THE COMMISSION ' S CONTROL OVER NEW INVESTMENT

( GENERAL DECISION NO 2794/80 , ART . 4 ( 3 ) AND ( 4 ))

Summary

1 . READ TOGETHER , ARTICLE 2 OF THE ACT OF ACCESSION OF THE HELLENIC REPUBLIC AND ARTICLE 2 OF THE DECISION OF THE COUNCIL OF 24 MAY 1979 ON THE ACCESSION OF THAT STATE TO THE EUROPEAN COAL AND STEEL COMMUNITY SHOW THAT IT IS WITH REFERENCE TO THE DATE ON WHICH THAT ACCESSION TOOK EFFECT , 1 JANUARY 1981 , RATHER THAN THE DATE OF THE COUNCIL ' S DECISION OR OF THE SIGNING OF THE DOCUMENTS CONCERNING ACCESSION , THAT IT MUST BE DETERMINED WHICH ACTS OF THE INSTITUTIONS ARE BINDING ON THE HELLENIC REPUBLIC AND APPLICABLE IN THAT STATE . THE ACCEDING STATE ACCEPTS ALL THE MEASURES ADOPTED BY THE INSTITUTIONS PRIOR TO THE TIME WHEN ITS ACCESSION TOOK EFFECT .

2 . ARTICLES 22 AND 146 OF THE ACT OF ACCESSION OF THE HELLENIC REPUBLIC APPLY ONLY TO ACTS OF THE INSTITUTIONS THE ADAPTATION OF WHICH , RECOGNIZED TO BE NECESSARY WHEN THE DOCUMENTS CONCERNING ACCESSION WERE SIGNED , HAD TO BE CARRIED OUT DURING THE INTERIM PERIOD . AS REGARDS NEW MEASURES TO BE ADOPTED IN THAT PERIOD , THE INSTITUTIONS WERE AWARE OF THE IMMINENT ACCESSION OF GREECE , WHICH WAS GIVEN AN OPPORTUNITY TO ASSERT ITS INTERESTS WHERE NECESSARY , IN PARTICULAR THROUGH THE INFORMATION AND CONSULTATION PROCEDURE DESCRIBED IN AN AGREEMENT ANNEXED TO THE FINAL ACT .

IT IS THEREFORE INCONTESTABLE THAT DECISION NO 2794/80 , ADOPTED ON 31 OCTOBER 1980 , ESTABLISHING A SYSTEM OF STEEL PRODUCTION QUOTAS AND DECISION NO 3381/80 , ADOPTED ON 23 DECEMBER 1980 , FIXING THE ABATEMENT RATES FOR THE FIRST QUARTER OF 1981 ARE AMONGST THE ACTS OF THE INSTITUTIONS WHICH ENTERED INTO FORCE , UNADAPTED , WITH RESPECT TO GREECE AND IN ITS TERRITORY WHEN ACCESSION BECAME EFFECTIVE ON 1 JANUARY 1981 PURSUANT TO ARTICLE 2 OF THE ACT OF ACCESSION .

3 . THE EXISTENCE OF A CRISIS WITHIN THE MEANING OF ARTICLE 58 OF THE ECSC TREATY MUST BE ASCERTAINED IN THE LIGHT OF THE SITUATION IN THE COMMUNITY AS A WHOLE . THEREFORE THE INTRODUCTION OF MEASURES UNDER ARTICLE 58 MAY NOT BE RULED OUT EVEN IF UNDERTAKINGS IN SOME MEMBER STATES OR SOME REGIONS OF THE COMMUNITY ARE LESS AFFECTED THAN OTHERS BY A WIDESPREAD STATE OF CRISIS .

4 . IT FOLLOWS FROM ARTICLES 58 ( 1 ) AND 74 OF THE ECSC TREATY THAT IF PRODUCTION QUOTAS ARE IMPOSED THEY DO NOT NECESSARILY HAVE TO BE ACCOMPANIED BY RESTRICTIONS ON IMPORTS OF STEEL PRODUCTS FROM NON-MEMBER COUNTRIES . THE INTRODUCTION OF SUCH RESTRICTIONS DEPENDS ON THE COMMISSION ' S ASSESSMENT OF THE STATE OF THE STEEL MARKET AND OF THE NEED TO AFFORD THAT MARKET PROTECTION . THAT NEED DEPENDS IN TURN BOTH ON THE POSSIBILITY OF DISPOSING OF EXISTING PRODUCTION ON THE INTERNAL MARKET AND ON EXTERNAL TRADE . BUT IN THIS REGARD IT IS NECESSARY TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT OBLIGATIONS ENTERED INTO BY THE COMMUNITY TOWARDS NON-MEMBER COUNTRIES AND THE REPERCUSSIONS WHICH THE INTRODUCTION OF IMPORT RESTRICTIONS MIGHT HAVE ON COMMUNITY EXPORTS IN GENERAL AND ON STEEL PRODUCTS IN PARTICULAR .

THE TAKING INTO CONSIDERATION OF THOSE FACTORS REQUIRES THE ASSESSMENT OF A COMPLEX ECONOMIC SITUATION , WHICH MEANS THAT THE LINK ESTABLISHED BY ARTICLE 58 ( 1 ) BETWEEN THE INTRODUCTION OF PRODUCTION QUOTAS AND THE IMPOSITION OF RESTRICTIONS ON IMPORTS OF COMPETING PRODUCTS CANNOT BE IN ANY WAY AUTOMATIC .

5 . ARTICLE 58 ( 2 ) OF THE ECSC TREATY DOES NOT RESTRICT THE COMMISSION ' S FREEDOM TO CHOOSE THE BASIS UPON WHICH THE QUOTAS MAY BE EQUITABLY DETERMINED IN A GIVEN ECONOMIC SITUATION . THERE ARE NO REASONABLE GROUNDS FOR DENYING THAT THE COMMISSION ' S CHOICE OF THE CRITERION BASED ON UNDERTAKINGS ' ACTUAL PRODUCTION MAY CONSTITUTE AN ' ' EQUITABLE BASIS ' ' WITHIN THE MEANING OF ARTICLE 58 ( 2 ). INDEED THAT CRITERION , AS ADJUSTED BY ARTICLE 4 OF DECISION NO 2794/80 , CONSTITUTES , IN THE FIRST PLACE , AN OBJECTIVE BASIS OF ASSESSMENT WHICH AVOIDS THE UNCERTAINTIES INHERENT IN DETERMINING A FACTOR WHICH IS PARTLY CONJECTURAL , SUCH AS PRODUCTION CAPACITY ; SECONDLY , IT ENABLES TOTAL PRODUCTION TO BE REDUCED WITHOUT ALTERING THE POSITIONS OF THE UNDERTAKINGS ON THE MARKET AS BETWEEN EACH OTHER .

6 . UNDER THE SCHEME OF DECISION NO 2794/80 THE AIM OF PARAGRAPHS ( 3 ) AND ( 4 ) OF ARTICLE 4 THEREOF IS TO HELP SOME UNDERTAKINGS BY RECTIFYING THE RESULTS OBTAINED BY TAKING INTO ACCOUNT THE REFERENCE PRODUCTION FIGURES DEFINED BY ARTICLE 4 ( 1 ) AND ( 2 ). THE AIM OF THOSE PROVISIONS IS , MORE PRECISELY , TO ADAPT THE REFERENCE PRODUCTION FIGURES OF SOME UNDERTAKINGS , HAVING REGARD TO THEIR PARTICIPATION DURING THE PERIOD UNDER CONSIDERATION IN VOLUNTARY REDUCTION PROGRAMMES AND TO THE RESTRICTIONS PLACED UPON THEM AS A RESULT OF THE CONTROL EXERCISED BY THE COMMISSION OVER NEW INVESTMENT .