CELEX: 51991PC0460
Language: en
Date: 1991-11-20
Title: Proposal for a COUNCIL REGULATION ( EEC ) amending Regulation ( EEC ) No 3420/83 in order to liberalize or suspend quantitative restrictions in respect of Albania; extending the suspension of certain quantitative restrictions in respect of countries of Eastern and Central Europe and laying down the import arrangements applicable to products originating in the Baltic States

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
                                           C0M(91) 460 final
                                           Brussels, 20 November 1991
                                Proposal for a
                          COUNCIL REGULATION. (EEC)
                    amending Regulation (EEC) No 3420/83
       in order to liberalize or suspend quantitative restrictions
        in respect of Albania; extending the suspension of certain
    quantitative restrictions in respect of countries of Eastern and
   Central Europe and laying down the import arrangements applicable
               to products originating in the Baltic States.
                        (presented by the Commission)
 ---pagebreak---                            EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
1. This proposal has a threefold purpose:
        to lay down the import arrangements to be applied to products
        originating in the Baltic States;
        to extend to products originating in Albania and the said Baltic
        States the access to the Community market already granted to the
        countries of Eastern and Central Europe;
        to extend until 31 December 1991 the suspension of non-specific
        quantitative restrictions currently applicable to the Eastern and
        Central European countries until 31 December this year.
2. There is an urgent need to lay down the trade arrangements applicable to
   imports originating in the Baltic States. Since the restoration of
   independence, the Community has adopted no practical measures in respect
   of these countries and there could be real problems, particularly at the
   level of Member States' customs administrations, regarding the treatment
   to be given      to products    originating   in   these   countries. The
   Commission's proposed solution would grant the Baltic States the same
   treatment currently reserved for the other countries of Eastern and
   Central Europe. This appears to be the only way to meet the double
   requirement of according the Baltic States treatment no less favourable
   than that accorded to the Soviet Union and no more favourable than that
   accorded to the countries with which the Community is in the process of
   negotiating association agreements (Hungary, Poland and Czechoslovakia).
   This solution also concords with the Council's agreement of 30 September
   and 1 October on the principle of including these countries in the G-24
   programme of coordinated assistance, of which increased market access
   for the relevant countries' products is a major component.
   There is a separate proposal regarding the treatment to be accorded to
   textile products originating in the Baltic States.
3. The extension to Albania of the same access to the Community market as
   that already granted to the countries of Central and Eastern Europe also
   follows upon the Council's agreement of 30 September and 1 October on
   the principle of including this country in the G-24 programme of
   coordinated assistance. The removal or suspension of quantitative
   restrictions is covered by the trade component of the PHARE programme.
4. The extension until 31 December 1992 of the suspension of non-specific
   quantitative restrictions also seems advisable in order to permit future
   growth in the exports of the countries concerned and so contribute to
   the modernization of their economic fabric. In the cases of Hungary,
   Poland   and   Czechoslovakia   this  measure    will   automatically  be
   incorporated into the corresponding association agreements, with effect
   from their entry into force.
 ---pagebreak---                                    Proposal for a
                                 CounciI Régulât ion
                                       of ...
                        amending Regulation (EEC) No 3420/83
           in order to liberalize or suspend quantitative restrictions
           in respect of Albania; extending the suspension of certain
  quantitative restrictions in respect of countries of Eastern and Central
            Europe and laying down the import arrangements applicable
                   to products originating in the Baltic States.
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community,
and in particular Article 113 thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,
Whereas Council Regulation (EEC) No 3420/83 of 14 November 1983 on import
arrangements for products originating in State-trading countries, not
liberalized at Community level,1 as last amended by Regulation (EEC)
No 2158/91,2 applies to products originating in, inter alia, Albania and
the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), of which Estonia, Latvia
and Lithuania, hereinafter referred to as "the Baltic States", were part
until the restoration of their sovereignty and independence; whereas the
Baltic States should therefore be included in the list of countries in
Annex I to the said Regulation (EEC) No 3420/83;
Whereas the Community and its Member States, at the extraordinary meeting
on European political cooperation held in Brussels on 27 August 1991, have
confirmed their decision to establish diplomatic relations with the Baltic
States and emphasized their commitment to support the said States in their
economic and political development;
Whereas, in view of the above, there is a need to define the import
arrangements applicable to products originating in the Baltic States;
Whereas Council Regulation (EEC) No 1765/82 of 30 June 1982 on common rules
for    imports from the State-trading countries,3 as last amended by
Regulation (EEC) No 1434/90,4 provides that imports of the products
mentioned in the Annex thereto shall not be subject to quantitative
restr ict ions;
Whereas the Council, at its meeting in Brussels on 30 September and
1 October 1991, has agreed in principle to the inclusion of the Baltic
States and Albania in the G-24 programme of coordinated assistance; whereas
this programme provides facilities for the access of products from the
countries of Central and Eastern Europe to the Community market;
1   0J  No  L 346,  8.12.1983, p.6.
2   OJ  No  L 201,  24.7.1991, p.5.
3   OJ  No  I 195,  5.7.1982, p.1.
4   OJ  No  L 138,  31.5.1990, p.1.
 ---pagebreak---                                        k
Whereas, in order to contribute to the modernization of the economic fabric
of these countries through, in particular, an increase in their exports,
specific quantitative     restrictions should therefore       be removed and
"non-specific" quantitative restrictions applicable to the release for free
circulation in the Community of certain products originating in these
countries suspended; whereas the Community has already adopted similar
measures   with   regard   to   Bulgaria,   Hungary,    Poland,   Romania   and
Czechoslovakia; whereas the suspension of quantitative restrictions has
been granted to these countries only until 31 December 1991;
Whereas    it   seems   appropriate    to   extend    the   suspension    until
31 December 1992 and to extend its application to the Baltic States and
Albania on the same conditions;
Whereas this Regulation is adopted without prejudice to any present or
future Community measures regarding the trade in textile products,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
                                  Article 1
Article 2(1) of Regulation (EEC) No 3420/83 is replaced by the following
text:
"  1. The release for free circulation of the products listed in Annex III
   originating in State-trading countries shall be subject to quantitative
   restrictions in the Member States as indicated in that Annex against
   those products.
   However, in respect of Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Estonia,
   Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, and the Soviet Union,
   Member States may maintain quantitative restrictions only on products
   listed in Annex I, as amended by Regulation (EEC) No 196/91,5 to
   Regulation (EEC) No 288/82,6 as last amended by Regulation (EEC)
   No 2978/91.7 Notwithstanding      this,    the    application    of    these
   quantitative restrictions to the release for free circulation of
   products originating in any of these countries other than the Soviet
   Union is hereby suspended in all Member States but Spain and Portugal
   until 31 December 1992. The suspension is not applicable to textile
   products reimported into the Community after undergoing processing or
   working in Albania, Estonia, Latvia or Lithuania. In the event of any
   one of the products in question causing or threatening to cause economic
   difficulties in the Community or a region thereof, the relevant
   quantitative restriction may be reintroduced under the procedure laid
   down in Title IV."
5  OJ No L 21, 26.1.1991, p.1.
6  OJ No L 35, 9.2.1982, p.1.
7  OJ No L 284, 12.10.1991, p.1
 ---pagebreak---                                   Article 2
Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are hereby added to the list of countries
contained in Annex I to Regulation (EEC) No 3420/83 and the Annex to
Regulation (EEC) No 1765/82.
                                  Article 3
This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day following that of
its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.
It shall be applicable from 1 December 1991.
This Regulation  is binding  in its entirety and directly applicable in all
Member States.
Done at Brussels,
                                         For the CounciI
                                         The President
 ---pagebreak---                                    FICHE
                 IMPACT DE LA PROPOSITION SUR LES P.M.E
                       ET SUR LE MARCHE DE L'EMPLOI
Sur le plan économique, les produits albanais qui font l'objet de la
mesure de libération des restrictions quantitatives sont actuellement
très peu importés. De ce fait, la mesure envisagée a un impact
économique minime.
Pour ce qui est des Etats baltes, du fait que ces pays étaient
incorporés dans l'URSS, l'absence de toutes données statistiques fiables
et le peu d'informations dont on dispose sur le potentiel de ces pays,
ne permettent pas à ce stade de procéder à une évaluation quelconque de
l'impact économique des mesures envisagées. On peut néanmoins escompter
que ces mesures auront plus un impact politique qu'économique.
 ---pagebreak---                                                                      ISSN 0254-1475
                                                              C0M(91) 460 final
                                                      DOCUMENTS
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                                                             ISBN 92-77-77510-6
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