CELEX: 31965D0053
Language: en
Date: 1965-01-26 00:00:00
Title: 65/53/EEC: Council Decision of 26 January 1965 on consultation procedure in matters of credit insurance, credit guarantees and financial credits

16                                   Official Journal of the European Communities
5.2.65                        OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES                                              255/65
                                                    COUNCIL DECISION
                                                       of 26 January 1965
               on consultation procedure in matters of credit insurance, credit guarantees and financial
                                                               credits
                                                            (65/53/EEC)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC                                   HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS :
COMMUNITY,
                                                                                              Article 1
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the Euro­
pean Economic Community;
                                                                       For the consultation procedure laid down by the
                                                                       Council on 15 May 1962 there shall be substituted
Having regard to the Council Decision1 of 27 Sep­                      the provisions of the Annex to this Decision.
tember 1960 setting up a Policy Co-ordination Group
for Credit Insurance, Credit Guarantees and Finan­
cial Credits ;
                                                                                              Article 2
Having regard to the Council Decision2 of 15 May
1962 laying down a procedure for consultation                          This Decision shall enter into force on the day of its
within the Policy Co-ordination Group for Credit                       publication in the Official Journal of the European
Insurance, Credit Guarantees and Financial Credits ;                   Communities .
Having consulted the Commission ;
                                                                       Done at Brussels, 26 January 1965 .
Whereas the operation of the Council Decision of 15
May 1962 has shown that certain amendments should
be made to the consultation procedure ;
                                                                                                        For the Council
                                                                                                          The President
 1 OJ No 66, 27.10.1960, p. 1339/60.
2 OJ No 52, 30.6.1962, p. 1561/62.                                                                 M. COUVE DE MURVILLE
                                                               ANNEX
                   CONSULTATION PROCEDURE IN MATTERS OF CREDIT INSURANCE, CREDIT
                                         GUARANTEES AND FINANCIAL CREDITS
                                                          Section I : Scope
               1 . The granting of export guarantees or credits by the State or by any State body shall be subject
               to the procedure set out hereinafter in all cases where :
               — such granting is linked directly or indirectly to the export of products of the State concerned;
                   and
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— it is proposed to guarantee fully or partially credits having a duration of more than five years
      calculated from the starting-points as defined by the Berne Union, or to grant such credits, or to
      depart from any rule or norm adopted by common accord of the Member States of the Com­
      munity.
2. In accordance with the basic rule laid down in paragraph 1 , the present procedure shall apply,
in the manner provided for in Section II, in all cases where the State or any State body proposes :
A. to grant a guarantee, whether direct or indirect, full or partial, in respect of :
     — any supplier credit ;
     — any financial credit other than those referred to in paragraph 3 of this Section ;
    — any line of credit for the supply of products of the State concerned to foreign countries (in­
         cluding cases where the nature of the products has been defined only in general terms) or
         any individual transaction entered into on the basis of such line of credit ;
    — any individual transaction entered into on the basis of one of the types of operation set out
         in paragraph 3 of this Section ;
B. to conclude basic agreements concerned solely with the fixing of guarantee limits for supplier
     credits or for financial credits other than those mentioned in paragraph 3 (A) of this Section, or
     to grant a guarantee in respect of any individual transaction entered into on the basis of such
     an agreement.
3 . In accordance with the basic rule laid down in paragraph 1 , the present procedure shall apply
also, in the manner provided for in Section III, in all cases where the State or any State body pro­
poses :
A. to grant a financial credit exclusively out of public funds ;
B. to conclude mixed credit agreements, in which public funds are combined with supplier or
    financial credits from private sources.
Section II : Procedure applicable for operations of the types set out in Section I, paragraph 2
1 . Information to be supplied at the time of consultation
A. The Group member initiating consultation shall first supply the following items of information :
     (a) country of destination ;
     (b) subject matter of the transaction with description giving sufficient details of the operation
         to permit an appraisal of its nature and size, together with information concerning the value
         of the transaction compiled by reference to a scale to be drawn up by the Group ;
     (c) credit period requested ;
     (d) terms and conditions on which the authorities of the exporting country propose to grant
         credit ;
     (e) reasons put forward for granting exceptional terms or conditions .
B. The above information shall be sent as soon as possible after the competent authorities have
    commenced their consideration of the credit guarantee in question, so that the members of the
    Group are able to co-ordinate their positions in good time. The exporter or the credit insti­
    tution concerned shall be asked to consent to the consultation taking place ; in the event that such
    consent is not given the Member States shall undertake to abide, in that particular case, by the
    practices of the Berne Union or by any rule or norm adopted by common accord of the Member
    States of the Community.
2. Recipients of information
The information required under paragraph 1 of this Section, the comments, if any, submitted by
the other members under the provisions of paragraph 3 (A) and the notification provided for in
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   paragraph 3 (G) shall be transmitted by telex to the recipients designated by each Member State,
   by the Commission and by the Secretariat of the Councils.
   3 . Submission of comments by Group members; consultative meetings
   A. Any Group member having, received the initial communication provided for in paragraphs 1
          and 2 of this Section may, within seven calender days :
          — request the Group member who communicated the information to provide additional
              details ;
          — make comments or reservations ;
          — request, in the case of an operation which he considers of particular importance, that the
              problems relating thereto be' discussed at a consultative meeting.
   B. Where by the date of expiry of the aforementioned period no comment has been made, the
          Group member who instituted the consultation may assume that the. other members of the
          Group have no objection to the terms and conditions proposed for the operation.
   C. Where comments or requests for additional details are in fact made, the Group member
         who instituted the consultation shall provide the additional information or reply to the com­
          ments. This must normally be done within the aforementioned period of seven days.
   D. Where, before expiry of the said period, a majority corresponding to the number of Member
         States consulted minus one expresses an unfavourable opinion on the operation with which
          consultation is concerned, the consulting Member State shall, except in urgent cases, undertake
          to defer its decision on such operation until a consultative discussion can be held.
   E. The procedure for consultative meetings shall be as follows :
          Consultative meetings, which shall take place in a committee of limited size may be held on the
         occasion of any meeting of the Group or of its subgroups. Meetings shall also be convened, if
         any Group member so requests, between meetings of the Group or of its subgroups, at the seat
         of the Secretariat of the Councils.
         Group members shall communicate to the recipients referred to in paragraph 2 of this section,
         if possible four calendar days before the consultative meeting, lists of the matters which they
         intend to submit for discussion.            '                                     (
   F. Without prejudice to the seven-day time limit provided for in A and C or to the undertaking
         required under D, the Group member who instituted a consultation in respect of which dis­
         cussion at a consultative meeting was requested shall nevertheless be entitled, as an exceptional
         measure, to take an immediate decision on the operation proposed, should he consider that
         such a decision can no longer be delayed.
   G. In all cases, the final decision taken in respect of each operation shall be made known to the
         other members of the Group ; where any unfavourable opinions expressed by the Member
         States consulted were not followed, the notification of such decision shall be accompanied by a
         statement of the reasons for which the consulting Member State found itself unable to take
         account of those opinions.
   Section III : Procedure applicable for operations of the types set out in Section I, paragraph 3
   1 . Prior information
   A. A Member State proposing to grant a financial credit exclusively out of public funds or to con­
         clude a mixed credit agreement shall inform the other Member States and the Commission
         thereof in advance, such information to include in particular the following items :
         (a) third country concerned ;
       . (b) description giving the basic terms and conditions of the financial credit or mixed credit
              agreement which it is proposed to grant or conclude ;
         (c) general context of operation.
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B. This information' shall be sent as soon as possible after the competent authorities have com­
    menced their consideration of the proposed financial credit or mixed credit agreement.
    The information shall be transmitted by telex to the Secretariat of the Councils by the office of
    the permanent representative of the Member State concerned ; the Secretariat of the Council
    shall forthwith forward such information, also by telex, to the permanent representatives of the
    other Member States and to the Commission.
2 . Consultation
A. Any Member State or the Commission may, within seven calendar days of receipt of the infor­
    mation required under paragraph 1 of this Section, request oral consultation.
B. The transmission of such requests shall be effected as provided in paragraph 1 (B) of this
    Section .
    Where oral consultation is requested, it shall take place within the Committee of permanent
    representatives, and at the first meeting of the Committee held after a lapse of four calendar
    days from thejlodging of such a request.
3 . Exceptional cases
A. Where, in exceptional cases, the granting of a financial credit exclusively out of public funds
    or the conclusion of a mixed credit agreement is so urgent that it is impossible to apply the pro­
    cedure laid down in paragraph 1 of this Section, the Member State concerned shall give notifi­
    cation after the event.
    Such notification shall be given immediately after the granting of the credit or the conclusion
    of the mixed credit agreement and may be followed by oral consultation, the procedure for
    which shall be similar to that laid down in paragraph 2 of this Section.
B. Where, following the communication of prior information required under paragraph 1 of this
    Section, a request for oral consultation is made in accordance with the provisions of paragraph
    2, such request for consultation shall not oblige the Member State which supplied the infor­
    mation to defer its decision if it considers that in this exceptional instance the decision cannot be
    delayed.
4. Notification of final decisions
The final decision in respect of the granting of any financial credit exclusively out of public funds
within the meaning of this Section or the conclusion of any mixed credit agreement within the
meaning of this Section shall be communicated by the Member State concerned, if such notification
has not already been given in the exceptional case provided for in paragraph 3 (A).
The communication of this information and its transmission to the other Member States and to the
Commission shall be effected as provided in paragraph 1 (B) of this Section.