A TENDENCY TO SUBSTITUTE COMMON WHEAT FOR DURUM WHEAT , LEADING IN CONSEQUENCE TO A CONSIDERABLE REDUCTION IN THE VOLUME OF PRODUCTION OF DURUM WHEAT MILLS AND A DETERIORATION IN THE QUALITY OF PASTA PRODUCTS , RESULTING IN A WEAKENING OF THE COMPETITIVE POSITION OF THE GERMAN MANUFACTURERS IN THE MARKET . THIS TENDENCY WAS ACCENTUATED BY THE FACT THAT THE GERMAN MANUFACTURERS ENCOUNTERED INCREASINGLY STRONG COMPETITION IN THEIR MARKET FROM PASTA MANUFACTURERS OF OTHER MEMBER STATES , AND IN PARTICULAR ITALIAN MANUFACTURERS , WHOSE PRODUCTION CENTRES , BEING NEAR TO THE GROWING AREAS OF DURUM WHEAT IN THE COMMUNITY WERE ABLE TO OBTAIN THE SUPPLIES AT PRICES CLOSE TO THE INTERVENTION PRICE , WHEREAS THE GERMAN MANUFACTURERS OBTAINED SUPPLIES OF DURUM WHEAT MEAL OF EXCLUSIVELY AMERICAN ORIGIN , IMPORTED AT THE THRESHOLD PRICE .
23 FROM THE LEGAL POINT OF VIEW , THE APPLICANTS RELY UPON FOUR GROUNDS , NAMELY DISREGARD OF THE PRICE POLICY EMBODIED IN THE BASIC REGULATION ( EEC ) NO 2727/75 OF THE COUNCIL OF 29 OCTOBER 1975 ON THE COMMON ORGANIZATION OF THE MARKET IN CEREALS ( OFFICIAL JOURNAL 1975 , L 281 , P . 1 ), BREACH OF THE PRINCIPLE OF NON-DISCRIMINATION EMBODIED IN THE SECOND SUBPARAGRAPH OF ARTICLE 40 ( 3 ) OF THE TREATY , BREACH OF THE PRINCIPLES FOR THE FIXING OF AGRICULTURAL PRICES AS LAID DOWN IN THE THIRD SUBPARAGRAPH OF ARTICLE 40 ( 3 ) AND , FINALLY , BREACH OF THE PRINCIPLE OF PROPORTIONALITY .
24 IN THE FIRST PLACE , THE APPLICANTS DRAW ATTENTION TO THE FACT THAT , IN THE BASIC REGULATION NO 2727/75 THE COUNCIL RECOGNIZED , IN THE EIGHTH RECITAL IN THE PREAMBLE THERETO , THAT IT WAS NECESSARY TO RESPECT SO FAR AS POSSIBLE WITHIN THE COMMUNITY THE RATIO EXISTING NORMALLY ON THE WORLD MARKET BETWEEN DURUM WHEAT AND COMMON WHEAT PRICES , BECAUSE OF THE INTERCHANGEABILITY OF THOSE TWO PRODUCTS . THAT POLICY WAS INDEED FOLLOWED FOR A LONG PERIOD AND IT WAS ONLY AFTER THE 1974 PRICE RISE CAUSED BY SHORT-TERM ECONOMIC FACTORS , WHICH IN THE MEANTIME WAS REABSORBED ON THE WORLD MARKET , THAT THE COUNCIL FOLLOWED A NEW POLICY , CONSISTING IN MAINTAINING AN ABNORMAL VARIANCE BETWEEN THE TWO PRICES IN QUESTION , THUS PROVOKING A SUBSTITUTIONAL EFFECT REGARDED AS ABNORMAL IN THE TERMS OF THE REGULATION . THE APPLICANTS ARE OF THE VIEW THAT THE COUNCIL WAS OBLIGED TO MAKE EVERY EFFORT TO ELIMINATE THAT ABNORMAL VARIANCE .
25 ACCORDING TO THE APPLICANTS , THE COURT RECOGNIZED THE JUSTIFICATION OF THAT REASONING IN ITS JUDGMENT OF 13 NOVEMBER 1973 ( JOINED CASES 63 TO 69/72 , WERHAHN AND OTHERS ( 1973 ) ECR 1229 ), IN WHICH IT STATED :
' ' THERE IS A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE COST PRICE OF DURUM AND OF COMMON WHEAT , THE FORMER BEING GENERALLY APPROXIMATELY 20 % HIGHER THAN THE LATTER .
AT THE RISK OF SEEING AN UNDESIRABLE KIND OF INTERFERENCE MAKING ITS APPEARANCE ON THE MARKET