Council Regulation (EC) No 2674/1999 of 13 December 1999 amending Regulation (EEC) No 1911/91 on the application of the provisions of Community law to the Canary Islands
Date: 1999-12-13
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: Canary Islands, application of EU law, customs territory (EU), single market

18. 12. 1999

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 326/3

COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 2674/1999

of 13 December 1999

amending Regulation (EEC) No 1911/91 on the application of the provisions of Community law to
the Canary Islands

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

(5)

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,

Having regard to the Act of Accession of Spain and Portugal,
and in particular the first subparagraph of Article 25(4) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament (1),

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social
Committee (2),

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

by virtue of Article 25 of the 1985 Act of Accession, the
Treaties and the acts of the Institutions of the Communi-
ties apply to the Canary Islands, subject to the deroga-
tions set out in that Article and in Protocol 2 to that
Act;

on account of their geographical situation, the Canary
Islands are faced with special difficulties due in particular
to their remoteness, their island status, their volcanic
terrain unpropitious to the development of agricultural
and industrial production and their lack of natural
resources; the Council has adopted a number of meas-
ures to integrate the Canary Islands more fully into the
Community and the customs union in particular;

in this context, existing indirect taxation arrangements
intended in particular to compensate for the region's
island status and geographical isolation needed gradual
reform and modernisation
accordance with
Community legislation; to that end and among other
measures adopted, Regulation (EEC) No 1911/91 (3)
allowed a new tax on production and imports (the ‘arbi-
trio sobre la producción y sobre las importaciones’
(APIM)) to be applied in the Canary Islands until 31
December 2000;

in

to the requirements of

this temporary tax is intended to enable local production
to adjust
the single market
through a system of exemptions; certain total or partial
exemptions from the tax are accordingly granted in
respect of
according to
economic needs and on condition that such exemptions
contribute to the promotion of local activities without
being liable to affect trading conditions to an extent
contrary to the common interest;

locally produced goods,

(1) Opinion delivered on 19 November 1999 (not yet published in the

Official Journal).

(2) OJ C 329, 17.11.1999, p. 27.
(3) OJ L 171, 29.6.1991, p. 1. Regulation as amended by Regulation

(EEC) No 284/92 (OJ L 31, 7.2.1992, p. 6).

(6)

(7)

(8)

(9)

pursuant to Article 5(6) of Regulation (EEC) No 1911/
91, the Commission has examined the impact of the
the APIM on the
measures taken in the context of
economy of the Canary Islands and the prospects for
integration of the region into the Community's customs
territory; that examination has found that the impact of
eliminating the APIM is broadly positive as regards
prices and negative as far as output and employment are
concerned;

the negative impact on output and employment never-
theless varies greatly according to the sector concerned;
although the time that has elapsed has allowed most
sectors to adjust, this is not the case for certain products
in sensitive sectors; the Commission has, at the request
of the Spanish authorities, studied the most vulnerable
sectors and identified the sensitive products, and has
concluded that such vulnerability could in some cases
lead to the virtual disappearance of the sector concerned;

it has
after consultation with the Spanish authorities,
become clear that the phasing-out of the tax should be
suspended until 30 June 2000 in the case of certain
sensitive products, in order to facilitate their adjustment
this
to market conditions before the tax disappears;
suspension does not call into question the objectives of
introducing the Common Customs Tariff and elimi-
nating the APIM, but is confined solely to mitigating the
effects of the economic adjustments which are necessary
in order to arrive at abolition of the tax;

Regulation (EEC) No 1911/91 should therefore be
amended accordingly;

The APIM will disappear on 31 December 2000; before
that date, the Commission will nevertheless examine
with the Spanish authorities the impact of suspending
the phasing-out of the tax on the economic sectors
concerned, and more particularly on the products
covered by this Regulation; in the light of the conclu-
sions of that examination, the Commission will, if neces-
sary, present to the Council a proposal concerning the
measures to be taken under the Treaty to avoid jeopar-
dising the existence of certain local production activities
that are particularly vulnerable, whilst still ultimately
achieving the objective of eliminating the tax,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Regulation (EEC) No 1911/91 is hereby amended as follows:

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Official Journal of the European Communities

18. 12. 1999

1. The following subparagraph shall be added to Article 5(2):

‘By way of derogation from the provisions of the first subparagraph, the reduction in the rates of the tax
shall be suspended from 30 December 1999 until 30 June 2000 in the case of the products listed in the
Annex.’

2. The Annex which appears in the Annex to this Regulation shall be added.

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day of its publication in the Official Journal of the European
Communities.

Article 2

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels, 13 December 1999.

For the Council

The President

S. HASSI

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Official Journal of the European Communities

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ANNEX

‘ANNEX

List of products, referred to in the second subparagraph of Article 5(2), classified according to the nomenclature
of the Common Customs Tariff (CCT)

Miscellaneous foodstuffs:

0403 10, 0407 00 90, 0701 90, 0702, 0703, 0803, 0901 21, 0901 90 90, 1101, 1601, 1602, 1704 90 71, 1806
(except 1806 20 95), 1901 90 99, 1902, 1904 10 10, 1905 10 00, 1905 20, 1905 30, 1905 40, 1905 90, 2002 10 90,
2002 90 91, 2007 91 10, 2007 99 39, 2008 99 61, 2008 99 68, 2101, 2103, 2105, 2106 90 98, 2309.

Tobacco:

2402 10 00, 2402 20.

Chemicals:

2804 30 00, 2804 40 00, 2851 00 30, 3208, 3209, 3213, 3401, 3402 (except 3402 11 00, 3402 12 00 and
3402 13 00), 3809 91 00.

Paper:

4808, 4818 10, 4818 20, 4818 30, 4818 40, 4819, 4821, 4823 59 10, 4909, 4910, 4911, 5601 22 10, 5601 22 99.

Textiles:

6112 31, 6112 41, 6213, 6302, 6303.

Metalworking industries I:

7308, 7309 00 (except 7309 00 90), 7317, 7325, 7604, 7608, 7610, 9406 00 31.

Other manufactured goods:

3923 10 00, 3923 21 00, 3923 30 10, 3924 10 00, 4012 10, 4418, 4601, 4602, 6802, 7010, 8544 59 10, 9401,
9403, 9404.’