2.

I turn now to the first question which seeks to determine whether the requirement of publication which is laid down in Article 4 of Regulation No 1023/70 has application to import quotas which the Member States have opened in accordance with Article 3 of Decision 79/252. As the Commission and the Netherlands Government are at one in demonstrating, the answer to that question can only be in the negative. The important point is that in Community law a basic distinction is drawn between quotas which the Community fixes uniformly in derogation from Regulations Nos 925/79 and 926/79, and import quotas which the Member States open under their import arrangements (which at times differ considerably) even if they are opened on an authorization granted by the Community such as that contained in Article 3 of Decision 79/252. Accordingly, regulations are adopted for Community quotas and decisions addressed to the Member States are issued as regards national quotas. It is, however, quite clear that the regulation referred to by the national court applies only to the administration of Community quotas. For example, its preamble refers to an “allocation of Community quotas” and Article 1 leaves no doubt that the regulation applies only to quotas which the Community has fixed unilaterally or by agreement. If that is not sufficient to militate against the application of the regulation to national import quotas permitted to be opened under Decision 79/252, there still remain the following considerations. For example, the Commission has shown that in the present case it is also necessary to refer back to Decision 75/210 which I mentioned at the beginning. It was amended by later decisions only as regards the annual fixing of the import quotas, in other words, only the first paragraph of Article 1 was amended. On the other hand, the second paragraph of Article 1 stayed the same and thus continued to apply in subsequent years. That paragraph states that “this provision shall not affect Member States' rules governing the opening and administration of quotas”. The Commission has rightly deduced therefrom that even if Regulation No 1023/70 is assumed to cover in principle national import quotas as well, it would in any event have to be taken to have no application to the opening and administration of national quotas, that is to say, to the distribution of those quotas, the rules for the grant of import licences and connected questions of publication. At the same time the Netherlands Government has pointed out that, subsequent to Regulation No 1023/70, Decision 72/455 was adopted (Official Journal, English Special Edition, 30-31 December 1972, p. 101 (original reference L 299, p. 46)). Article 1 thereof provided that Member States could unilaterally amend their import arrangements in regard to non-member countries and the preamble thereto indicates that national import arrangements and common import arrangements — whether unilateral or conventional — must be clearly distinguished. The Netherlands Government has further pointed out that, since the essentials of Decision 75/210 were maintained in force and were thus applicable to later national quotas and amendments thereto, the assumption that Regulation No 1023/70 also covers national quotas would lead to there being two different procedures on the amendment of import arrangements (Article 2 of the regulation and Articles 4 and 5 of the decision), and two provisions on publication (Article 3 of the regulation and Article 5 of the decision) which would both have to be observed simultaneously. That can neither be practical nor have been intended. Finally, it is also worth noting that regulations on Community quotas, such as for example Article 2 of Regulation No 3020/77 (Official Journal 1977, L 357, p. 51), expressly refer to Regulation No 1023/70 whereas that is not the case with the decisions concerning national quotas.