CELEX: 31990D0663
Language: en
Date: 1990-12-19 00:00:00
Title: 90/663/EEC: Commission Decision of 19 December 1990 renewing Decision 85/594/EEC authorizing the Hellenic Republic to take certain protective measures under Article 108 (3) of the EEC Treaty

20 . 12. 90                             Official Journal of the European Communities                             No L 357/47
                                                                II
                                          (Acts whose publication is not obligatory)
                                                   COMMISSION
                                                  COMMISSION DECISION
                                                     of 19 December 1990
                renewing Decision 85/594/EEC authorizing the Hellenic Republic to take certain
                             protective measures under Article 108 (3) of the EEC Treaty
                                                (Only the Greek text is authentic)
                                                          (90/663/EEC)
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,                        programme aiming at the reduction of macroeconomic
                                                                   imbalances ; whereas it has requested an extension of
                                                                   certain protective measures in respect of the movement of
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European              capital and transfers relating to tourist expenditure of
Economic Community, and in particular Article 108 (3)              Greek residents abroad, in accordance with the provisions
thereof,                                                           of Article 9 (5) of Decision 85/594/EEC ; whereas, never­
                                                                   theless, the Greek authorities have relaxed the restrictions
Whereas, by Decision 85/594/EEC ('), the Commission                originally authorized in this area ; whereas they intend to
on a temporary basis authorized the Hellenic Republic to           remove the remaining protective measures as soon as the
take certain protective measures in support of a                   situation in the balance of payments improves ;
programme of economic stabilization implemented by
the Greek Government from the end of 1985 in order to
deal with serious balance of payments difficulties and to          Whereas it emerges from the examination of the overall
restore an acceptable situation ;                                  economic situation of Greece undertaken by the Commis­
                                                                   sion that the external position of Greece deteriorated in
                                                                   1990 ; whereas this deterioration is expected to be more
Whereas since then, and in line with the improvement in            pronounced during the first months of 1991 ; whereas the
the external equilibrium of Greece, several of these               authorities are implementing a stabilization and economic
protective measures have been revoked or amended in                recovery programme in order to reduce the internal and
accordance with the provisions of Decision 85/594/EEC ;            external imbalances ; whereas until the situation in the
whereas this Decision was amended by Commission                    balance of payments is redressed the retention of certain
Decisions 86/614/EEC (2), 87/ 152/EEC (3), 88/438/EEC (4),         protective measures in this area is justified ;
88/600/EEC       89/644/EEC (6) and lastly renewed and
amended by Decision 90/348/EEC Q ;
                                                                   Whereas there are grounds, in particular on account of
                                                                   the expected pressure on balance of payments, for re­
Whereas the Hellenic Republic has claimed that although            newing without modifications the authorization to apply
the deterioration of the economic situation has been               these protective measures ; whereas, however, the evolu­
contained balance of payments problems persist ; whereas           tion of the economic situation in Greece should be moni­
it has adopted a stabilization and economic recovery               tored attentively so that the measures authorized may
                                                                   possibly be amended or repealed if the conditions justi­
(') OJ No L 373, 31 . 12. 1985, p. 9.                              fying them were no longer to obtain ;
(2) OJ No L 357, 18. 12. 1986, p. 28 .
(j OJ No L 63, 6. 3. 1987, p. 38.
(4) OJ No L 218, 9 . 8 . 1988 , p. 19 .                            Whereas, for the sake of transparency it is appropriate to
(j OJ No L 325, 29. 11 . 1988, p. 58.
(«) OJ No L 372, 21 . 12. 1989, p. 39 .                            present in a single text the complete enacting terms of
f) OJ No L 170, 3 . 7. 1990, p. 51 .                               Decision 85/594/EEC as last amended by this Decision,
 ---pagebreak--- No L 357/48                           Official Journal of the European Communities                                         20. 12. 90
HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION                                                  Article 2
                                                                            1.    The Commission shall attentively monitor the
                          Article 1                                        evolution of the economic situation in Greece . The
                                                                           Commission reserves the right to amend or repeal all
The enacting terms of Decision 85/594/EEC shall be                         or part of this Decision, after consulting the Member
replaced by the following text :                                           State concerned, particularly if it finds that the circum­
                                                                           stances which led to its adoption have changed or that
    Article 1
                                                                           its effects are more restrictive than they need be in
   1.    Greece is hereby authorized, temporarily and                      order to achieve their objectives.
   within the limits and conditions laid down in the                       2. If, before the date of expiry of the derogations
   Annex to this Decision, to prohibit or to make subject                  permitted up to 30 June 1991 under Article 1 , Greece
   to prior authorization the conclusion or execution of                   claims that balance of payments difficulties persist, or
   transactions and transfers relating to capital move­                    that there is a serious likelihood of their recurring, the
   ments liberalized in accordance with the provisions of                  Commission shall examine the overall economic situa­
   the Council Directive in force for the implementation                   tion in order to determine whether an extension of all
   of Article 67 of the Treaty (').                                        or part of the protective measures in force is appro­
                                                                           priate.
   2. Greece is hereby temporarily authorized to limit
   transfers relating to the tourist expenditure of Greek                  Article 3
   residents to ECU 1 200 per person and per journey. In                   This Decision is addressed to the Hellenic Republic.
   addition to this basic allowance, residents shall,
   however, be allowed to use payment or credit cards
   abroad for the purposes of holiday expenses to the
   amount of ECU 300 per person per year.
   3.    Without prejudice to the provisions of Article 2,
   the authorizations contained in this Article shall be                   (') Council Directive 88/361 /EEC (OJ No 178, 8 . 7.
   valid until 30 June 1991 .                                                   1988, p. 5).
                                                              ANNEX
                                                       Type of restriction authorized by way of derogation
                         Operation                                from Community obligations
                 Investment               Investments in real estate abroad made by residents may be subject to
                 in real estate           prior authorization. This shall be granted to residents emigrating under
                                          the heading of the free movement of employed and self-employed persons
                                          in respect of investments related to their installation or establishment.
                 Operations               The acquisition by residents of foreign securities, or of domestic securities
                 in securities            issued on a foreign market, may be prohibited or made subject to prior
                                          authorization. However :
                                          — residents shall be authorized to acquire securities issued by the
                                              Communities and by the European Investment Bank up to the limit
                                              of a global annual amount of ECU 75 million ;
                                          — resident collective investment undertakings shall be authorized to
                                              invest in foreign securities up to 25 % of their net assets, in the case of
                                              unit trust funds and 25 % of their paid-up capital in the case of
                                              investment companies.'
                                                              Article 2
                 This Decision is addressed to the Hellenic Republic.
                 Done at Brussels, 19 December 1990.
                                                                                   For the Commission
                                                                               Henning CHRISTOPHERSEN
                                                                                       Vice-President