WRITTEN QUESTION No. 632/97 by Maartje van PUTTEN to the Commission. OCT decision and the Netherlands Antilles
Date: 1997-02-21
Institutions: European Parliament, VAN PUTTEN
Subjects: Netherlands Antilles, association agreement, market access, originating product, overseas countries and territories, protective clause, tariff preference, trade policy













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91997E0632

WRITTEN QUESTION No. 632/97 by Maartje van PUTTEN to the Commission. OCT decision and the Netherlands Antilles  


Official Journal C 319 , 18/10/1997 P. 0142 





WRITTEN QUESTION P-0632/97 by Maartje van Putten (PSE) to the Commission (21 February 1997)Subject: OCT decision and the Netherlands Antilles1. Does the Commission share the view that the interim change in the trade preferences of the Netherlands Antilles under the OCT decision is a deliberated strategy and premature attempt to influence the review of that decision which is currently under way?2. Does the Commission also agree that this constitutes improper influence?Answer given by Mr Pinheiro on behalf of the Commission (8 April 1997)In proposing changes to the trade arrangements applying to the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) the Commission relied on precise data and did not act in a 'premature' fashion. Far from being guilty of improper administration, it displayed constancy and consistency.On 14 February 1996 the Commission presented a proposal to the Council for a Decision amending at mid-term Council Decision 91/482/EEC of 25 July 1991 on the Association of the Overseas Countries and Territories with the European Community ((COM (95) 739 final. )). The review was conducted pursuant to Article 240 of that same Decision.As regards the unilateral preferential arrangements applying since 1991 to products exported to the Community from the OCTs, the amendments proposed by the Commission are designed to ease the serious disruption that has already occurred or that may occur in the short term on Community markets for sensitive agricultural products such as rice, sugar, dairy products, beef and fruit juice. In making these adjustments, the Commission did not however propose abolishing the free access to the Community market applying since 1991 to products originating in the OCTs. This is the only such case among all the different trade arrangements in force.The Commission also feels that the provisions it proposes to change have led to speculation that has been highly detrimental to Community producers and the Community budget without achieving the OCTs' economic and social development objectives spelled out in the association decision.In a report presented to the Council in November 1993, the Commission had already underscored the urgent need - in the wake of the adoption in 1993 of safeguard measures for OCT rice - to modify these arrangements ((COM(93) 555 final. )).This report set out various approaches to remedy these problems and already included a proposal for minimum prices which was discussed in the Council over a period of two years (1994 and 1995) without being adopted.In the absence of a Council Decision on the mid-term review proposed at the beginning of 1996 owing to the objections of one of the fifteen Member States (around 30 meetings, of which seven Coreper and two General Affairs Councils), the Commission and the Council had to propose fresh safeguard measures in January this year.