CELEX: 51984PC0073
Language: en
Date: 1984-03-07
Title: PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL DIRECTIVE AMENDING DIRECTIVE 81/363/EEC ON AID TO SHIPBUILDING

28.3.84                             Official Journal of the European Communities                             N o C 86/5
                                              COMMISSION
              Proposal for a Council Directive amending Directive 81/363/EEC on aid to shipbuilding
                                                  COM(84) 73 final
                           (Submitted by the Commission to the Council on 14 March 1984)
                                                     (84/C 86/07)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN                                    with that in some non-member countries; whereas the
COMMUNITIES,                                                   overcapacity in the industry and the extra cost of pre-
                                                               serving it are preventing the investment necessary to
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the                   modernize production facilities, which is essential if
European Economic Community, and in particular                 the industry is to be able to face competition from
Articles 92 (3) (d) and 113 thereof,                           non-member countries;
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,
                                                               Whereas the system of control of aid, both direct and
                                                               indirect, set up by Directive 81/363/EEC has helped
Having regard to the opinion of the European                   to reduce distortions of competition between the
Parliament,                                                    Member States; whereas the Directive has also
                                                               enabled the Community to speak with a common
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and               voice in talks with non-member shipbuilding nations;
Social Committee,
Whereas Council Directive 81/363/EEC of 28 April               Whereas, however, the restructuring measures for
1981 on aid to shipbuidling (*), as amended by                 shipyards which have been operated by the Member
Directive 82/880/EEC (2), will expire on 31                    States since 1979 in line with the objectives laid down
December 1984;                                                 in the Council resolution of 19 September 1978 on
                                                               the reorganization of the shipbuilding industry (3),
                                                               and    Council     Directives       78/338/EEC (4)    and
Whereas the situation of the Community shipbuilding            81/363/EEC on aid to the industry, have, owing to
industry has deteriorated since the beginning of 1983,         the considerable delay in implementing them and the
as reflected in a sharp drop in orders which has hit in        worsening of the industry's difficulties, the severity of
particular some of the larger yards, which are now in          which exceeded expectations, so far proved inad-
danger of running out of work and the untimely                 equate to achieve the objectives sought by the system
closure of which would have very serious economic              of control of aid set up by the above Directives of
and social repercussions in the regions of the                 restoration of the industry's competitiveness and
Community where they are located;                              withdrawal of all government support;
Whereas it is important for shipping for the sea-borne
trade of the Community to maintain a shipbuilding              Whereas in the present economic situation the
industry of an adequate and viable size;                       Member States do not, given the market outlook for
                                                               the maritime industries, foresee a recovery in the
Whereas      a competitive      shipbuilding    industry       shipbuilding industry before the end of 1986; whereas
contributes to the Community's economic and social             the measures designed to bring about a lasting
development by providing a substantial market for a            improvement in the competitiveness of Community
whole range of other industries, including high-               shipbuilding by adjustment to prevailing market
technology industries, and also helps to maintain              conditions need as a result to be continued;
employment in certain regions, some of which are
already suffering from high unemployment;
                                                               Whereas, therefore, in view of the serious social     and
Whereas the structural crisis in the shipbuilding              regional effects of the worsening of the crisis       and
industry has led to an increasingly marked loss of             having regard to the efforts and sacrifices which      the
competitiveness in Community shipbuilding compared             restructuring of the industry requires in this area,  it is
O OJ No L 137, 23. 5. 1981, p. 39.                             (3) OJ No C 229, 27. 9. 1978, p. 1.
O OJ No L 371, 30. 12. 1982, p. 46.                            (4) OJ No L 98, 11. 4. 1978, p. 19.
 ---pagebreak--- N o C 86/6                           Official Journal of the European Communities                               28. 3. 84
legitimate for the Member States to continue to                 Whereas the Community's shipbuilding industry will
support such restructuring measures by means of                 thus have a further two years in which to complete its
direct or indirect aid;                                         restructuring so as to adjust to market conditions and
                                                                raise its productivity by shedding the cost of main-
Whereas the extremely serious problems of the                   taining the present overcapacity and by rationalizing
shipbuilding industry and the industries dependent on           its assets; whereas it will hence be appropriate to
it justify the introduction for a limited period of             apply from 1 January 1987 a new Council Directive
emergency measures and appropriate schemes to                   on aid to shipbuilding;
complete the restructuring process, whilst avoiding             Whereas the system of control of aid to shipbuilding,
situations where the social and regional consequences           instituted by Directive 81/363/EEC, should therefore
of the structural adjustment            jeopardize     the      be continued in order to assist the industry's
development opportunities of the shipbuilding                   restructuring and return to viablitity,
regions;
                                                                HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:
Whereas, however, it is particularly important to                                         Article 1
ensure that the aid which the Member States intend
to give to their industries continues to be linked to           In Article 11 of Directive 81/363/EEC, '31
restructuring objectives involving further capacity             December 1984' is hereby replaced by '31 December
reductions and that its granting does not lead to an            1986'.
escalation of aid levels or deprive the Member States
                                                                                          Article 2
whose yards have already made the biggest cuts in
capacity of the rewards of their sacrifices;                    This directive is addressed to the Member States.
              Proposal for a Council Regulation amending Regulation (EEC) No 3164/76 on the
                     Community quota for the carriage of goods by road between Member States
                                                   COM(84) 109 final
                            (Submitted by the Commission to the Council on 14 March 1984)
                                                      (84/C 86/08)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN                                     Community quota are accompanied by a journey
COMMUNITIES,                                                    record sheet, the model of which is contained in
                                                                Annexes II and II a to Council Regulation (EEC) No
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the                    3164/76 (*), as last amended by Regulation (EEC)
European Economic Community, and in particular                  No 3515/82 ( 2 );
Article 75 thereof,
                                                                Whereas, in order to strengthen the internal market,
 Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,              Council Regulation (EEC) No . . . of . . . simplifying
                                                                 customs formalities in trade within the Community
 Having regard to the opinion of the European                    makes provision for the use of a single document to
 Parliament,                                                     replace the various administrative documents used for
                                                                 such trade; whereas it would be possible to obtain the
 Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and                information or estimates currently obtained from
 Social Committee,                                               statistical analysis of journey record sheets from this
                                                                 single document;
                                                                 Whereas, in order to avoid duplication, it would be
 Whereas the adoption of a common transport policy               preferable for this single document, once it is
 involves inter alia laying down common rules for the            introduced, to be used instead of the journey record
 international carriage of goods by road to or from              sheet;
 the territory of a Member State or passing across the
 territory of one or more Member States;
 Whereas Community authorizations for the carriage               C) OJ No L 357, 29. 12. 1976, p. 1.
 of goods by road issued in accordance with the                  (2) OJ No L 369, 29. 12. 1982, p. 2.