THE TREND IN TRADE IN FRENCH ETHYL ALCOHOL ON THE BASIS OF IMPORT STATISTICS SUPPLIED BY THE OTHER MEMBER STATES AND NOT FRANCE' S EXPORT STATISTICS, WHICH THE FRENCH REPUBLIC WAS NOT OBLIGED TO SUPPLY AND INDEED DID NOT SUPPLY BEFORE THE ADOPTION OF REGULATION NO 644/85 .
9 BEARING IN MIND THE NATURE OF THOSE ARRANGEMENTS, IT SHOULD BE ASCERTAINED WHETHER THE COMMISSION CORRECTLY APPRAISED THE STATISTICS SUPPLIED TO IT PURSUANT TO ARTICLE 5 OF REGULATION NO 2541/84 BY THE MEMBER STATES IMPORTING NON-DENATURED ETHYL ALCOHOL OF AGRICULTURAL ORIGIN PRODUCED IN FRANCE .
10 ON THAT POINT IT MUST BE OBSERVED THAT THE STATISTICS SUPPLIED BY THE IMPORTING MEMBER STATES, FROM WHICH IT APPEARS THAT DURING THE PERIOD COVERED BY REGULATION NO 2541/84 THE VOLUME OF IMPORTS INTO THOSE STATES HAD NOT "FOLLOWED A DOWNWARD TREND", SHOW THAT THE COMMISSION COULD JUSTIFIABLY COME TO THE VIEW THAT THE ORIGINAL RATE OF THE COUNTERVAILING CHARGE WAS NOT SUFFICIENT TO CURB THE RISE IN EXPORTS TO OTHER MEMBER STATES OF NON-DENATURED ETHYL ALCOHOL OF AGRICULTURAL ORIGIN PRODUCED IN FRANCE .
11 THE FIRST SUBMISSION PUT FORWARD BY THE GOVERNMENT OF THE FRENCH REPUBLIC MUST THEREFORE BE REJECTED .
12 IN ITS SECOND SUBMISSION, THE FRENCH GOVERNMENT ARGUES THAT THE ADOPTION, FOR THE PURPOSES OF CALCULATING THE CHARGE, OF A FRENCH EXPORT PRICE DETERMINED BY REFERENCE TO THE "LOWEST FREE-AT-FRONTIER PRICE AT WHICH REPRESENTATIVE QUANTITIES OF NON-DENATURED ALCOHOL FROM FRANCE ARE SOLD ON THE MARKETS OF THE OTHER MEMBER STATES", AS PROVIDED FOR IN THE FOURTH RECITAL IN THE PREAMBLE TO REGULATION NO 2541/84, IS ARBITRARY BECAUSE IN PRACTICE SEVERAL GRADES OF ALCOHOL WITH DIFFERENT CHARACTERISTICS AND DIFFERENT PRICES ARE SOLD ON THE ALCOHOL MARKET .
13 THE COMMISSION STATED IN ANSWER TO THAT SUBMISSION THAT IT WOULD HAVE BEEN IMPOSSIBLE, IN COMPARING FRENCH PRICES WITH THOSE PREVAILING IN THE IMPORTING MEMBER STATES, TO DISTINGUISH BETWEEN DIFFERENT GRADES OR END USES OF ALCOHOL, IN VIEW OF THE FACT THAT THE MEMBER STATES WERE NOT IN A POSITION TO PRODUCE FIGURES ENABLING SUCH A COMPARISON TO BE MADE . MOREOVER, IT TAKES THE VIEW THAT EVEN IF THERE WERE DIFFERENT MARKETS ACCORDING TO EACH GRADE OF ALCOHOL IN THE MEMBER STATES THEY WOULD STILL NOT BE DIRECTLY COMPARABLE BECAUSE IN SOME MEMBER STATES PRICES DEPEND ON END USE AND IN OTHERS THEY DEPEND ON THE QUALITY OF THE PRODUCT ITSELF .
14 IN ORDER TO DECIDE ON THE MERITS OF THAT SUBMISSION IT MUST BE DETERMINED WHETHER THE COMMISSION EXCEEDED THE BOUNDS OF ITS DISCRETION OR MADE AN ERROR IN LAW IN ADOPTING A METHOD FOR CALCULATING THE CHARGE BASED ON A SINGLE EXPORT PRICE, WHERE THERE WERE DIFFERENT PRICES FOR DIFFERENT GRADES OF ALCOHOL .
15 IT IS THEREFORE NECESSARY TO EXAMINE WHETHER THE METHOD ADOPTED BY THE COMMISSION WAS CAPABLE OF SECURING THE OBJECTIVES SOUGHT BY ARTICLE 46 OF THE TREATY . IN VIEW OF THE CONSIDERATIONS SET OUT BY THE PARTIES, IT MUST BE HELD THAT THE METHOD OF REFERRING