Source: EURLEX
Language: en
Format: md

No C 337/54 Official Journal of the European Communities 31. 12. 88

moveable week were considered desirable and advis
able. However, it must be rejected since the Committee

Done at Brussels, 27 October 1988.

regards the moveable week as being as retrogressive
step if the aim is greater simplicity and flexibility.

_The_ _Chairman_

_of the Economic and Social_ _Committee_

Alberto MASPRONE

Opinion on the current state and future prospects of the GATT/Uruguay Round negotiations
as regards agriculture and the agro-food sector

(88/C 337/18)

On 31 May 1988 the Economic and Social Committee, acting under the fourth paragraph of
Article 20 of its rules of procedure, decided to draw up an Opinion on the current state and
future prospects of the GATT/Uruguay Round negotiations as regards agriculture and the
agro-food sector.

The section for external relations, trade and development policy, which was responsible for
preparing the Committee's work on the subject, adopted its Opinion on September 1988.
The rapporteur was Mr Clavel.

At its 259th plenary session (meeting of 27 October 1988), the Economic and Social Committee
unanimously adopted the following Opinion.

1. The Punta del Este declaration of 20 September
1986, which launched the new round of multilateral
trade negotiations, gave an important place to negotiations in the agricultural sector. The course of the
initial phases of the negotiations and the attitudes and
proposals of the contracting parties concerning the
conduct of the negotiations in the agricultural sector, as
well as the deliberations at the major intergovernmental
meetings, have tended to add to this importance. That
is why the Committee with the ministerial meeting in
Montreal in mind, considers it appropriate to make
known its views on the conduct of these agricultural
negotiations, it being understood that the general
aspects of the multilateral trade negotiations, which
concern also agriculture, are covered by the Committee
Opinion on the current state and future prospects of
the GATT/Uruguay Round negotiations ( [1] ).

(') ESC of 29 September 1988 (OJ No C 318, 12. 12. 1988).

General points

2. After two years devoted to identifying problems
of presentation and to examining various proposals and
objectives concerning the agricultural negotiations, the
ministerial session scheduled for 4 and 5 December in

Montreal would seem to be extremely necessary in
order to draw up a balance sheet at the mid-way stage
of the negotiations.

This session should also be the occasion for finally
entering into a genuine dialogue, for taking stock of
the points on which convergence is discernible and, on
the basis thereof, for mapping out, if possible, the broad
outlines of negotiations in the coming two years aimed
at establishing a better balance between supply and
demand.

3. In this connection it is necessary to reaffirm the
principle that the negotiations form part of a whole,
as laid down in the Punta del Este declaration: 'The

launching, the conduct and thefimplementation of the
outcome of the negotiations shaffl be treated as parts of
a single undertaking.'

31. 12. 88 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 337/55

That is why the Montreal session should be concerned
in particular with the progress required on tropical
agricultural products and on the services connected
with farming.

4. The Community should point out at Montreal
that multilateralism is an essential rule of the General

Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and that this
rule therefore applies to the present negotiations.

Even if it is considered that a final agreement cannot
be arrived at until the United States and the EEC

have reached an understanding on certain points, the
negotiations must amount to more than just a quarrel
between these two parties. Other countries are interested in finding a better balance in the agricultural sphere.

Certain countries (e.g. Japan and Korea) with ambitious
programmes for the development of their agricultural
production should open their frontiers, too, and join in
any concerted production limitation moves that may
be decided on.

5. The Committee has noted that other practices are
at variance with the principle of multilateralism: the
bilateral agreements for the supply of sugar and beef
for the United States market and most recently the
agreements concluded between the United States and
Japan, or the transnational interests of commercial
operators which are taking the place of the States.

The Montreal session provides an opportunity to
initiate efforts to limit excesses in this area.

6. The Community should pay particular attention
to preserving the special nature of the agricultural negotiations:

— first of all because all attempts to solve the problems
relating to trade in agricultural products and to
expand trade in this sector have been unsuccessful
where they failed to take account of this special
nature, which is due to the characteristics of agricultural production and the agricultural markets: climatic uncertainties, difficult preservation of products, disparate production structures, market inelasticity, desire for security of supply, widespread
application of support policies, disorderly world
markets..., and

— also because this is the only way to safeguard the
specific features of European agriculture: all the
Member States and the neighbouring countries in
Europe have similar agricultural structures and have
a common interest in preserving their agriculture as
an element in the structure of their society and in
their physical planning, and as part of the environment and the landscape: all in fact have a cultural

tradition closely linked with rural life and thus with
agriculture,

— these common features set European agriculture
completely apart from agriculture in the new
countries with a much greater area and a much
lower population density, which are thus very different in historical and structural terms. This means

that the principle of comparative advantage can
never become the sole criterion for the operation of
the agricultural markets at world level.

7. The Committee notes also that the ministerial

declaration of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Develoment (OECD) of March 1987, the
Venice Summit in June 1987, the proposals made by
the various countries or groups of countries and finally
the conclusions of the Toronto Summit introduce a

major new element into the multilateral negotiations as
far as the agricultural sector is concerned: the negotiations will not be confined to trade barriers, rather
an attempt will be made to reduce the support that
most contracting parties give to their agriculture. The
negotiations will therefore go beyond trade negotiations
in the strict sense of the term and deal with the content

of agricultural policies, which is another manifestation
of the special character of the agricultural negotiations.
This ambitious objective cannot be achieved unless the
agricultural negotiations are approached with a great
deal of realism and account is taken of the diversity of
the situations in this area.

Agro-food sector

8. The Community should also pay attention to the
special needs of the agro-food sector (which directly
employes 4 000 000 EC workers). This sector has a vital
interest in freer trade and therefore in the success of

the GATT negotiations.

Besides the subjects covered in the agricultural group
negotiations, impediments to EC agro-food exports
include also excessive tariffs and such non-tariff barriers

as administrative and customs procedures, food compositional requirements, and sanitary and phyto-sanitary measures.

Lastly, there is also a great deal of counterfeiting of
high quality EEC products (misappropriating intellectual property in GATT terms).

9. Within GATT these are dealt with to varying
degrees by the agriculture and by other negotiating
groups. It is essential that a procedure is created where
the problems of the agro-food sector are treated as a

No C 337/56 Official Journal of the European Communities 31. 12. 88

whole so that the consequences for the sector's competitive position are always taken properly into account by
the Community's negotiators.

Rights and obligations of the Community

10. The Community will have to assert its rights
during the negotiations:

— A high price was paid for the fundamental principles
of the common agricultural policy (CAP) during
the previous negotiations (Dillon Round, Tokyo,
Round, XXIV-6 negotiations). These principles,
particularly levies and refunds, cannot be called into
question.

— The Community is the world's leading importer of
agricultural products, and it should turn this position to good account. But its partners should not
expect it to be able _to_ continue to increase its
imports while embarking on a programme for the
restriction of its own agricultural production.

— The Community is the world's second largest
exporter of agricultural/food products. It therefore
has an interest in discussions of the problems relating to market access, particularly since a reduction
in support will reduce export costs. It is of the
utmost importance that the Community should continue to be able to export agricultural/food products, on account of its agricultural production
potential and because of balance of trade considerations.

— While internal prices are higher than world ones, it
is absolutely essential to have compensation for this
difference on exports.

— Lastly, the Committee would point out that the
European Council held on 11-12 February 1988
called on the Commission 'to ensure, in the context
of the Uruguay Round and having regard to the
provisions of the GATT, that the Community's
measures with respect of prices and quantities are
taken into due consideration'.

11. No progress will be possible in the negotiations
unless efforts are made by each of the contracting
parties in a spirit of reciprocity. A better balance
between supply and demand will not be achieved unless
all the countries concerned make their contribution

to limiting production and improving access; and no
headway will be made on the reduction of support
to agriculture unless all the countries concerned give
equivalent undertakings in this area. The Community
should of course require guarantees from its partners
as to the effectiveness of their commitments.

12. For all these reasons, the Committee stresses the
absolute necessity for the Community to maintain the
greatest possible cohesion throughout the negotiations.
The Member States should avoid initiatives which could

break up the united Community front and be exploited
by third countries. There is therefore a need for sectoral
cohesion, as well as cohesion among the Member States
and between the Commission and the Council. The

Community's credibility hinges on the resoluteness it
shows in the stands it adopts. Too often in the past the
EEC has been unable to respond when it was the subject
of unjustified attacks. The Community should be aware
of the economic strength and bargaining power of a
single market of 320 million consumers.

13. In view of the importance of what is at stake,
the Committee urges the Commission to take the steps
needed to ensure full, accurate and regular briefing of
Community public opinion on the GATT negotiations
and the reasons underpinning the various positions,
particularly in talks on key matters.

14. At the same time, given the role it plays at
international level, the Community should be alive to
the responsibility it has for bringing about a better
balance on the markets for agricultural products. The
negotiations will certainly lead it to revise some of the
CAP instruments, which will have consequences both
for producers and for the very balance of society in the
Member States. That is why the Community should
adopt a pragmatic attitude at all times, while seeking
to identify possibilities for longer-term agreements.

15. The present course of the negotiations gives the
impression of a certain confusion and stagnation. The
excessive use of panels as soon as there is disagreement
with the EEC completely upsets the balance of the
negotiations and alters their spirit.

The many calls for panels, which increasingly involve
the interpretation of GATT rules, make recourse to
neutral arbiters more and more difficult. This leads to

politicization of the panels, which is unacceptable. The
Community should denounce any unfair use of the
GATT rules aimed at judgment before negotiation.

The political principles of the agricultural negotiations

16. The Community's proposals are aimed at:

— better control of production by appropriate means,
including a progressive reduction in support with a
direct or indirect effect on trade in agricultural
products,

— making agriculture more sensitive to market signals,

31. 12. 88 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 337/57

— a greater role for direct aids not linked to the volume
of production.

The Committee approves these proposals, since the
prime aim of the negotiations should be to establish
more orderly conditions for international agricultural
trade by creating a better balance on the markets. This
better balance cannot be achieved without a concerted

effort to control production.

17. But pursuit of these objectives must not lead to
a severe drop in farm incomes in the Community,
which would accelerate the flight from the land to an
unacceptable degree, unbalance the fragile economy of
certain regions and have detrimental consequences for
the environment and the landscape.

18. Insofar as the Community has to make greater
use of direct aids (idea of decoupling supported by the
United States), the Committee would point out that the
CAP has to take account of 7 million farms, whereas
the United States has only 2 million farms on a utilized
agricultural area that is four times greater. The social
as well as the financial consequences of decoupling
must therefore be taken into consideration, and the
difficulties that certain countries will face in setting
up approriate administrative machinery must not be
forgotten.

The Committee would also point out that aids and
subsidies not linked to products are not necessarily
neutral in terms of production and prices; they should
therefore also be included in the negotiations.

The Committee would also stress that a reliable method

of measuring agricultural support will have to be agreed
on if the reduction in support is to be well balanced.

19. Subject to the above comments, the Committee
also approves the approach suggested by the Community, viz.:

19.1. A phase of short-term action comprising on
the one hand emergency measures on several major
products and on the other hand a concerted limitation
of support with as basis the 1984-1985 marketing year.

19.1.1. The critical situation in which farmers find

themselves (incomes, financial position,...) in many
developed and developing countries warrants the adoption of concerted emergency measures to restore equilibrium and stability on the international agricultural
markets.

19.1.2. The Committee considers that adoption of
these measures is a test of the goodwill and credibility
of the contracting parties. It goes without saying that
account will have to be taken of all the agricultural
policy measures introduced by the various contracting
parties since the above date, as well as the many support
programmes that certain countries have been unable to
do without and the mandatory reforms.

19.2. The above form the preconditions for embarking upon a second, more decisive phase in a significant,
concerted reduction of agricultural support. This would
make it possible to rectify the production situation
internally and would appreciably-improve the situation
on the markets. The Committee supports this approach.

19.2.1. Priority should be given to the abolition of
scaling down of policies and measures that have contributed to agricultural surpluses and create barriers to
international trade or distort it.

19.2.2. In this connection the Committee thinks that

the Community should obtain from the United States
a formal undertaking concerning the abolition of the
derogations (waiver secured in 1955 in order to comply
with Article 22 of the Agricultural Adjustment Act of
1933) which enable it to impose quotas, as it sees fit,
on such important products as the majority of milk
products, groundnuts, cotton and sugar, with a view
to making its policy of support for these products
effective. The Community must take the standpoint
that there can be no true reciprocity or balanced commitments unless these derogations are abolished; the
Community must make it clear to GATT that this is a
vital issue on which the success of the negotiations
depends.

19.2.3. As regards the reduction of agricultural support, the Committee considers that all the contracting
parties should enter into firm commitments as binding
as those relating to customs tariffs. These commitments
should come under close surveillance by GATT.

19.2.4. The situation of the developing countries
would be examined in this phase of the discussions and
a special degree of flexibility would be shown here since
it is only a question of short-term measures. At all
events, the developing countries would benefit from
such commitments, since they should lead to a general
improvement in conditions on the world market which
should ensure normal market access for these countries.

20. In conclusion, the Committee hopes that the
ministerial meeting in Montreal will make it possible,
through a combination of immediate measures and
long-term objectives, to find a way out of the impasse
in which the negotiations have been for too long.

Whatever their extent and whatever the reasons behind

them, the differences of view regarding the approach
to be followed for the agricultural negotiations must
not form a pretext for inactivity; the Committee considers that these differences of view must be overcome

at Montreal if the objectives agreed at Punta del Este
are to be fully achieved.

21. In parallel with the efforts that the contracting
parties must make to find a compromise that will lead
to clearer and more effective rules for agricultural trade,

No C 337/58 Official Journal of the European Communities 31. 12. 88

the governments must take resolute action to improve
the functioning of the international monetary system
if they wish to realize the aspirations underlying the
Uruguay Round. There would be no point in seeking
to reduce agricultural support if a simple change in
the interest rate, magnified in its repercussions on the

Done at Brussels, 27 October 1988.

various currencies, would make it possible to provide
new support at any time.

Balanced national budgets and monetary and financial
cooperation are preconditions for the success of the
Uruguay Round, particularly in the agricultural sector.

_The Chairman_

_of the Economic and Social Committee_

Alberto MASPRONE

Opinion on the proposal for a Council Directive on the burden of proof in the area of equal
pay and equal treatment for women and men ( [J] )

(88/C 337/19)

On 16 June 1988, the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee,
under Article 100 of the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, on the
abovementioned proposal.

The section for social, family, educational and cultural affairs, which was responsible for
preparing the Committee's work on the subject, adopted its Opinion on 13 October 1988.
The rapporteur was Mr Gomez Martinez.

At its 259th plenary session (meeting of 27 October 1988), the Economic and Social Committee
adopted the following Opinion by 72 votes to 10, with 5 abstentions.

1. General comments

1.1. The Committee endorses the Commission proposal subject to the following comments.

1.2. The Committee is pleased that the Commission
was prompted to issue this proposal inter alia by the
arguments expressed by the ESC Opinion on equal
opportunities for women, medium-term Community
programme, 1986-1990, which was adopted unanimously on 24 April 1986.

1.3. Basically, the reasons put forward by the Committee in April 1986 are still valid:

a) ensuring the more effective application of existing
Community provisions;

b) contributing to redressing the continuing infringement of equality of rights;

c) remedying the imbalance between the number of
legitimate cases brought before the courts and the
real incidence of discrimination which is very much
higher;

(•) OJ No C 176, 5. 7. 1988, p. 5.

d) encouraging and stimulating the implementation of
good employment practices and modern personnel
techniques;

e) the legal application of the Directive should provide
Member States with room for manoeuvre and
enough flexibility to forestall possible abuses by
interest groups.

1.4. Equal opportunities for women should be one
of the main objectives of a People's Europe. To achieve
this end, an effort will be required in all social spheres,
including above all, the promotion of suitable employment and educational policies.

While legislation is important, it plays a more decisive
role in amending individual rather than general situations.

1.5. Current Community legislation on equality
between men and women as laid down in the following
must be implemented more effectively.

— Article 119 of the EEC Treaty,

— Council Directive 75/117/EEC: Equal pay for men
and women,