CELEX: 31969R2591
Language: en
Date: 1969-12-18
Title: Regulation (EEC) No 2591/69 of the Council of 18 December 1969 laying down conditions for applying protective measures in the market in cereals

Official Journal of the European Communities                                    571
 27.12.69                           Official Journal of the European Communities                           No L 324/1
                              REGULATION (EEC) No 2591/69 OF THE COUNCIL
                                                 of 18 December 1969
                    laying down conditions for applying protective measures in the market in cereals
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,                       Whereas, since recourse to protective measures
                                                               depends on the effect of trade with third countries on
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the                   the Community market, the situation on this market
European Economic Community;                                   must be assessed by taking account not only of the
                                                               factors peculiar to the market its, elf but also of the
                                                               factors connected with the development of that trade;
Having regard to Council Regulation No
 120/67/EEC1 of 13 June 1967 on the common
organisation of the market in cereals, as last amended         Whereas the measures which may be taken in
 by Regulation (EEC) No 2463/69,2 and in particular            application of Article 20 of Regulation No
 Article 20 ( 1) thereof;                                      120/67/EEC should be laid down; whereas those
                                                               measures must be such as to put an end to serious
                                                               disturbances on the market and the threat of such
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission;
                                                               disturbances ; whereas they must be suited to the
                                                               circumstances if they are not to have other than the
Having regard to the Opinion of the European                   desired effects ;
Parliament3;
"Whereas Article 20 ( 1 ) of Regulation No 120/67/EEC          Whereas the organisation of the market in cereals
makes provision for the application of appropriate             includes a system of licences and a system of fixing
measures if, by reason of imports or exports, the              levies and refunds in advance; whereas in view of the
Community market in one or more of the products                existence of these systems rules should be laid down
listed in Article 1 thereof experiences or is threatened       whereby interim protective measures at Community
with serious disturbances which may endanger the               level can be decided upon after a summary
objectives set out in Article 39 of the Treaty; whereas        examination of the situation ;
these measures relate to trade with third countries ;
whereas they will no longer apply when the
 disturbance or threat of disturbance has ceased ;             Whereas recourse by a Member State to Article 20 of
                                                               Regulation No 120/67/EEC should be limited to a
                                                               case in which the market of that State, following an
Whereas it is for the Council to adopt detailed rules          assessment based on the above-mentioned factors, is
for the application of Article 20 ( 1 ) of that                regarded as fulfilling the conditions of that Article;
Regulation and define the cases in which and the               whereas the measures which may be taken in that
limits within which Member States may take interim             case should be designed to prevent the market
protective measures;                                           situation from deteriorating further; whereas,
                                                               however, they must be of an interim nature; whereas
Whereas, therefore, the main factors to be used in             this interim nature of national measures justifies their
assessing whether the Community market is seriously            application only until the entry into force of a
disturbed or threatened with disturbance should be             Community decision on the subject;
determined;
                                                               Whereas the Commission is required to take a
                                                               decision on Community protective measures to be
1 OJ No 117, 19.6.1967, p. 2269/67.                            applied in response to a request from a Member State
2 OJ No L 312, 12.12.1969, p . 3 .                             within twenty-four hours following receipt of the
3 OJ No C 97, 28.7.1969, p. 89.                                request; whereas, in order that the Commission may
 ---pagebreak---  572                                 Official Journal of the European Communities
assess the situation on the market with the greatest             (c) the total or partial rejection of outstanding
 effectiveness, provision should be made to ensure that               applications for the advance fixing of levies or
 it is informed as quickly as possible of any interim                 refunds and for the issue of licences .
 protective measures applied by a Member State;
whereas, therefore, provision should be made for the            2. These measures may only be taken to such
Commission to be notified of any such measures as               extent and for such length of time as is strictly
soon as they have been adopted and for such                     necessary. They may not extend to products other
notification . to be treated as a request within the            than those imported from or intended for third
 meaning of Article 20 (2) of Regulation No                     countries. They may be restricted to products
 120/67/EEC;                                                    imported from or originating in particular countries,
                                                                to exports to particular countries or to particular
                                                                qualities or types of presentation. They may be
                                                                restricted to imports intended for particular regions
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION :                                    of the Community or to exports from such regions.
                                                                3 . The rejection of applications mentioned in
                           Article 1
                                                                paragraph 1 shall apply to those submitted during the
                                                                periods in which the suspensions mentioned in
 In order to assess whether the Community market in              Article 3 or Article 4 have been in force.
one or more of the products listed in Article 1 of
Regulation No 120/67/EEC is, by reason of imports               However, if as a result of unexpected circumstances
or exports, experiencing or threatened with serious             there is or is likely to be a variation in prices such
disturbances which may endanger the objectives set              that it is clear that the levy or refund no longer fulfils
out in Article 39 of the Treaty, particular account             its purpose, the rejection may relate to applications
shall be taken of :                                             submitted from the time when such circumstances
                                                                become apparent.
 (a) the quantities of products for which import or
      export licences have been issued or applied for;
(b) the quantities of products available on the                                          Article 3
      Community market;
(c) the prices recorded on the Community market or              After a summary examination of the situation based
      the foreseeable trend of these prices and in              on the factors set out in Article 1 , the Commission
      particular any excessive upward trend thereof, or         may establish by Decision that the conditions for
      in the case of products for which no intervention         applying Article 20 (2) of Regulation No 120/67/EEC
      price has been fixed, any excessive downward              are fulfilled. The Commission shall notify Member
      trend thereof;                                            States of its Decision and shall publish it on a
                                                                notice-board at its headquarters.
 (d) the quantities of products for which intervention
      measures have been taken or may need to be                The consequence of that Decision for the products in
      taken if the above-mentioned situation arises as a        question shall be the temporary suspension of the
      result of imDorts .                                       advance fixing of levies or refunds and of the issue of
                                                                licences from the time fixed for the purpose, that
                                                                time being subsequent to the notificatioh .
                           Article 2
                                                                The Decision shall apply for not more than
                                                                forty-eight hours, without prejudice to the provisions
1.      The measures which may be taken under Article           of the second sentence of Article 20 (2) of Regulation
20 (2) and (3 ) of Regulation No 120/67/EEC, should             No 120/67/EEC.
the situation mentioned in Article 20 ( 1 ) arise, shall
be :
( a) the total or partial suspension of the advance                                      Article 4
      fixing of levies or refunds, including the refusal
      of fresh applications ;                                   1 . A Member State may take one or more interim
                                                                protective measures if, after an assessment based on
(b) the total or partial suspension of the issue of             the factors set out in Article 1 , it considers that the
      import or export licences, including the refusal of       situation foreseen in Afticle 20 ( 1 ) of Regulation No
      fresh applications ;                                      120/67/EEC has arisen in its own territory.
 ---pagebreak---                                    Official Journal of the European Communities                                   573
Interim protective measures may comprise:                     been decided on . Such notification shall be treated as
                                                              a request within the meaning of Article 20 (2) of
(a) the total or partial suspension of the advance            Regulation No 120/67/EEC. These measures shall
     fixing of levies or refunds;                             apply only until the Decision taken by the
(b) the total or partial suspension of the issue of           Commission on this matter enters into force.
     import or export licences.
The provisions of Article 2 (2) shall apply.                                        Article 5
2. The Commission shall be notified by telex of               This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 January
the interim protective measures as soon as they have          1970 .
              This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member
              States .
              Done at Brussels, 18 December 1969.
                                                                                   For the Council
                                                                                    The President
                                                                                   P. LARDINOIS