Proposal for a Council Regulation amending the Commission Decision 2002/602/ECSC on administering certain restrictions on imports of certain steel products from the Russian Federation
Date: 2004-07-07
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Russia, enlargement of the Union, import restriction, iron and steel product, originating product

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 7.7.2004 
COM(2004) 459 final 

2004/0140 (ACC) 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL REGULATION 

amending the Commission Decision 2002/602/ECSC on administering certain 
restrictions on imports of certain steel products from the Russian Federation 

(presented by the Commission) 

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EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

The  European  Coal  and  Steel  Community  and  the  Government  of  the  Russian  Federation 
concluded an Agreement on 9 July 2002 on trade in certain steel products. 

Article  2  paragraph  4  of  the  Agreement  stipulates  that  “In  the  case  where  the  candidate 
countries  to  EU  membership  would  accede  before  the  termination  of  this  Agreement,  the 
Parties  agree  to  consider  the  increase  of  quantitative  limits  set  out  in  Annex  II”. 
Consequently, the Parties agreed to increase the quantitative limits. Moreover, in pursuance of 
Declaration n° 1 to the Agreement on service centres in the EU, the Parties agreed to further 
increase  the  quantitative  limits  in  2  specific  cases.  A  new  Agreement  incorporating  these 
increases has been signed by the Parties. 

Furthermore,  the  Government  of  the  Russian  Federation  has  requested,  in  accordance  with 
Article 3(3) of the current Agreement, to carry-over certain amounts of the quantitative limits 
not used during the year 2003. The authorised carry-over for each product group is as follows 
(amounts in tonnes): 21195 for SA1a, 2102 for SA3, 6458 for SA4, 1400 for SA5, 1077 for 
SB1, 4305 for SB 2 and 10984 for SB 3. 

This  proposal  for  a  Council  Regulation  provides  for  the  necessary  implementing  legislation 
for the new Agreement and the carry-over. 

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2004/0140 (ACC) 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL REGULATION 

amending Commission Decision 2002/602/ECSC on administering certain restrictions on 
imports of certain steel products from the Russian Federation 

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 
133 thereof, 

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission1, 

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

(4) 

(5) 

(6) 

1 
2 
3 
4 

The  Partnership  and  Cooperation  Agreement  establishing  a  partnership  between  the 
European  Communities  and  their  Member  States,  of  the  one  part,  and  the  Russian 
Federation, of the other part 2, entered into force on 1 December 1997. 

Article  21  of  the  Partnership  and  Cooperation  Agreement  provides  that  trade  in 
European Coal and Steel Community ( hereinafter referred to as the ‘ECSC’) products 
shall be governed by Title III of that Agreement, save for Article 15 thereof, and by 
the provisions of an agreement on quantitative arrangements concerning exchanges of 
ECSC steel products. 

On 9 July 2002 the ECSC and the Government of the Russian Federation concluded 
on such an Agreement on trade in certain steel products3(hereinafter referred to as ‘the 
Agreement’),  approved  on  behalf  of 
the  ECSC  by  Commission  Decision 
2002/603/ECSC 4.  

The ECSC Treaty expired on 23 July 2002 and the European Community took over all 
rights and obligations contracted by the European Coal and Steel Community. 

The  Parties  agreed  pursuant  to  Article  10  (2)  of  the  Agreement  that  it  should  be 
continued and that all rights and obligations of the Parties should be maintained after 
such expiry. 

The Parties entered into consultations as provided for in Article 2(4) of the Agreement 
and  agreed  to  increase  the  quantitative  limits  set  out  therein  to  take  account  of  the 
enlargement  of  the  European  Union.  Moreover,  the  Parties  agreed  to  increase  the 

OJ C , , p. . 
OJ L 327, 28.11.1997, p.3 
OJ L 195, 24.7.2002, p.55 
OJ L 195, 24.7.2002, p.54 

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quantitative limits with regard to Declaration n° 1 of the Agreement on the setting up 
by Russian operators of service centres in the European Union. Those increases have 
been the subject of a new agreement that entered into force on the day of its signature5. 

Furthermore, the Government of the Russian Federation has requested, in accordance 
with Article 3(3) of the Agreement, to carry-over, within the authorised limits for each 
product group,certain amounts of the quantitative limits not used during the year 2003. 

Commission  Decision  2002/602/ECSC  of  8  July  2002  on  administering  certain 
restrictions on imports of certain steel products from the Russian Federation6 sould be 
amended accordingly, 

(7) 

(8) 

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: 

Article 1 

In Annex IV to Decision 2002/602/ECSC, the quantitative limits set out for the year 2004 are 
replaced by the quantitative limits appearing in the Annex to this Regulation. 

This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day following that of its publication in the 
Official Journal of the European Union. 

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

Done at Brussels,  

For the Council 
The President 

5 
6 

See page …of this Official Journal. 
OJ L 195, 24.7.2002, p.38 

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ANNEX 

QUANTITATIVE LIMITS  

Unit: tonnes 

Years 

2004 

Products 

SA. Flat products 
SA1. Coils 
SA1.a. Hot-rolled coils for re-
rolling 
SA2. Heavy plate 
SA3. Other flat products 
SA4. Alloyed products 
SA 5. Alloyed quarto plates 
SA 6. Alloyed cold rolled and 
coated sheets 

SB. Long products 

“310 767 
558 839 

143 654 
250 148 
101 120 
22 208 
97 561 

SB1. Beams 
SB2. Wire rod 
SB3. Other long products 

31 440 
121 783 
232 102” 

Note: 
SA and SB are product categories 
SA1 to SA6 and SB1 to SB3 are product groups 

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