1 . THE FIRST GROUND THE APPLICANT CLAIMS THAT THE SCRAP IN DISPUTE CONSTITUTED NOT BOUGHT SCRAP WITHIN THE MEANING OF THE GENERAL DECISIONS, BUT ' OWN RESOURCES ' WHICH, AS SUCH, WERE GRANTED EXEMPTION FROM THE EQUALIZATION CONTRIBUTION . ON THE BASIS OF THIS DESCRIPTION, IT CONCLUDES THAT THE OWNERSHIP OF THE SAID SCRAP NEVER CEASED TO BE VESTED IN IT BY VIRTUE OF THE RETENTION OF OWNERSHIP CLAUSE INCLUDED IN THE CONTRACTS OF SALE MADE WITH PHENIX-WORKS AND LA ROCHETTE AND THAT THE DECISION WHICH IT CONTESTS WAS THEREFORE WRONG IN SUBJECTING THE SCRAP TO EQUALIZATION CONTRIBUTIONS . THE GENERAL DECISIONS APPLICABLE TO THIS QUESTION INTRODUCED, FOR THE BENEFIT OF ALL UNDERTAKINGS WITHIN THE COMMUNITY, A SCHEME DESIGNED TO ENSURE THEM A REGULAR SUPPLY OF SCRAP AT UNIFORM PRICES WHATEVER THE MEMBER STATE TO WHICH THEY BELONGED OR THE ORIGIN OF THE SCRAP IN QUESTION . P.1079 THESE DECISIONS, AIMED AT SPREADING BETWEEN UNDERTAKINGS THE FINANCIAL BURDEN OF A BENEFIT IN WHICH ALL COULD SHARE, ACCORDINGLY MADE ALL SCRAP CONSUMED BY COMMUNITY UNDERTAKINGS SUBJECT TO THE EQUALIZATION LEVY, WITH THE SINGLE EXCEPTION OF SCRAP WHICH CONSTITUTED THEIR OWN RESOURCES . THE SCOPE OF THIS EXEMPTION CAN BE DETERMINED ONLY BY REFERENCE TO THE SYSTEM WITHIN WHICH IT IS DESIGNED TO OPERATE AND IN THE LIGHT OF THE FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES ON WHICH IT IS BASED . SINCE THE OBLIGATION TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE EQUALIZATION SCHEME IS THE RULE AND EXEMPTION THE EXCEPTION, THE LATTER MUST BE INTERPRETED STRICTLY AND MUST BE CONSISTENT WITH THE AIMS, THE BASIC PRINCIPLES AND THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE PROPER FUNCTIONING OF THE EQUALIZATION SCHEME, IN PARTICULAR THE PRINCIPLE OF THE EQUAL LIABILITY OF ALL THOSE AFFECTED TO PAY CONTRIBUTIONS, SHARED IN PROPORTION TO THE AMOUNTS RESPECTIVELY CONSUMED, AND THE REQUIREMENT THAT THE SCHEME BE APPLIED IMPARTIALLY TO ALL THOSE SUBJECT TO IT . WHEN IT PLEADS THE RIGHT OF OWNERSHIP, WHICH IT CLAIMS NEVER TO HAVE CEASED TO ENJOY IN RESPECT OF THE DISPUTED SCRAP, AND THE FACT THAT THIS ELEMENT HAS BEEN TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT IN CERTAIN SIMILAR CASES PREVIOUSLY, THE APPLICANT IS IGNORING THE FACT THAT THE CONCEPT OF ' OWN RESOURCES ' DEPENDS EQUALLY ON A CONSIDERATION OF THE METHOD OF SCRAP PRODUCTION REQUIRED BY THE SPIRIT AND PURPOSE OF THE EQUALIZATION SCHEME . THE APPLICANT IS THEREFORE MISTAKEN IN THINKING THAT THE EXEMPTION CAN BE MADE TO APPLY TO THE SCRAP HERE IN DISPUTE SIMPLY BY SHOWING THAT AT NO TIME DID IT TRANSFER ITS OWNERSHIP THEREOF . IN DOING SO, IT FAILS TO APPRECIATE THAT THE FACT THAT SCRAP ARISING FROM A TRANSFER OF OWNERSHIP WAS CLASSIFIED IN PREVIOUS SIMILAR CASES AS BOUGHT SCRAP DOES NOT BY ANY MEANS INDICATE THAT THE ABSENCE OF ANY TRANSFER WILL JUSTIFY EXEMPTION FROM THE EQUALIZATION LEVY . INDEED, THE QUESTION WHO HOLDS TITLE TO THE OWNERSHIP OF THE DISPUTED SCRAP, HOWEVER IMPORTANT, CANNOT BE THE SOLE DETERMINING FACTOR IN THE EQUALIZATION SCHEME . THE AIMS OF THE SCHEME MAKE IT IMPERATIVE TO TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION THE CIRCUMSTANCES SURROUNDING THE PRODUCTION OF THE SCRAP IN QUESTION . P.1080 NO EXEMPTION FROM EQUALIZATION CONTRIBUTIONS CAN BE ALLOWED WHICH WOULD TEND TO INCREASE SUBSTANTIALLY DIFFERENCES IN PRODUCTION COSTS, OTHERWISE THAN BY ALTERING THE LEVEL OF OUTPUT, AND THEREBY BRING ABOUT AN APPRECIABLE DISEQUILIBRIUM IN THE COMPETITIVE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN UNDERTAKINGS . THAT DOES NOT OCCUR WHEN AN UNDERTAKING PUTS BACK INTO ITS PRODUCTION CYCLE WASTES ARISING FROM THE PRODUCTION OR PROCESSING, CARRIED OUT BY IT OR ON ITS BEHALF, OF ITS OWN PRODUCTS . SUCH RE-UTILIZATION CONSTITUTES IN FACT AN INTERNAL MEASURE OF ECONOMY CONDUCIVE TO INCREASED PRODUCTIVITY; EXEMPTION OF SCRAP SO USED DOES NOT THEREFORE DISTORT COMPETITION WITHIN THE MARKET . ON THE OTHER HAND ANY EXEMPTION WHICH DEPENDS NOT ON THE WAY IN WHICH AN UNDERTAKING ARRANGES ITS PRODUCTION, BUT ON THE CONTRACTUAL RELATIONSHIPS WHICH IT HAS WITH OTHER UNDERTAKINGS, IS NOT COMPATIBLE WITH THE SCHEME . THE CLASSIFICATION OF SCRAP AS ' OWN RESOURCES ' IS NOT THEREFORE NECESSARILY DEPENDENT ON THE CONCEPT OF OWNERSHIP OF THE SCRAP, BUT IS INTENDED TO APPLY IN THE MAIN TO SCRAP WHICH IS GENUINELY THE PRODUCT OF THE UNDERTAKING'S OWN ACTIVITY, THE RESULT OF ITS OWN WORK . THE SCRAP IN QUESTION DID NOT ARISE BY SEPARATION FROM THE SEMI-FINISHED PRODUCT BY A JOINT PRO QUOTA OPERATION PERFORMED BY THE APPLICANT AND EACH OF THE UNDERTAKINGS WITH WHICH IT HAS CONTRACTED BUT IS THE OUTCOME OF THE MANUFACTURE OF FINISHED PRODUCTS CARRIED OUT BY THE FIRMS PHENIX-WORKS AND LA ROCHETTE WORKING ON THEIR OWN ACCOUNT AND AT THEIR OWN RISK . IN ADDITION, A VALUATION WAS MADE OF THE SCRAP TRANSFERRED BY PHENIX-WORKS AND LA ROCHETTE TO THE APPLICANT AND TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT WHEN THE SELLING PRICE OF THE SEMI-FINISHED PRODUCT WAS FIXED . HOWEVER, AT LEAST IN THE CASE OF THE FIRST CONTRACT MADE WITH PHENIX-WORKS, THE VALUE SO FIXED FOR THE SCRAP DIFFERS FROM THE VALUE OF A CORRESPONDING QUANTITY OF THE SEMI-FINISHED PRODUCTS . THIS SEPARATE VALUATION OF THE SEMI-FINISHED PRODUCTS SOLD AND OF THE SCRAP RECOVERED CONFIRMS THAT THE LATTER DOES NOT MERELY REPRESENT A PORTION RETAINED FROM THE SEMI - FINISHED PRODUCTS SOLD, BUT IS A NEW PRODUCT . CONSEQUENTLY CONSUMPTION OF THIS SCRAP BY THE APPLICANT CANNOT BE CONSIDERED AS A RE-UTILIZATION BY THE PRODUCER UNDERTAKING OF ITS OWN RESOURCES . P.1081 IN THESE CIRCUMSTANCES, THE SCRAP IN QUESTION MUST BE SUBJECT TO THE PAYMENT OF EQUALIZATION CONTRIBUTIONS, THE AFFINITIES WITH PRIVATE LAW INVOKED HERE BY THE APPLICANT BEING IRRELEVANT TO THE MATTER . THE DETERMINING FACTOR LIES NOT, THEREFORE, AS THE APPLICANT CLAIMS, SIMPLY IN THE PHYSICAL TRANSFER OF THE SCRAP, BUT IN ITS INCORPORATION INTO THE CYCLE OF PRODUCTION OF AN UNDERTAKING WHICH HAS HAD NO PART IN THE PRODUCTION PROCESS FROM WHICH IT HAS ARISEN . THE GROUND PUT FORWARD BY THE APPLICANT IS THEREFORE NOT WELL FOUNDED .
2 . IT HAS BEEN ESTABLISHED THAT IN NOVEMBER 1956, WHEN THE FIRST CHECK WAS CARRIED OUT ON THE APPLICANT FIRM, THE OFFICIALS OF THE SOCIETE FIDUCIAIRE SUISSE ( SFS ), WHILE AWARE THAT THE APPLICANT WAS RECEIVING SCRAP FROM PHENIX-WORKS WHICH IT DID NOT DECLARE AS ' BOUGHT SCRAP ', DID NOT REFER THE PROBLEMS TO THE BODIES RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE EQUALIZATION SCHEME . THE APPLICANT CLAIMS THAT THE OFFICIALS GAVE IT ' EVERY ASSURANCE THAT THE CONTRACT WAS EFFECTIVE AS REGARDS THE PROBLEM OF LIABILITY TO PAY CONTRIBUTIONS '. THE FILE OF THE CASE SHOWS THAT THE TASK OF THESE OFFICIALS WAS ONE OF CHECKING AND INSPECTION, AND EXCLUDED ANY ADMINISTRATIVE DUTY WHICH MIGHT CONFER ON THEM THE CAPACITY OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE DEFENDANT . THEY DID NOT, THEREFORE, HAVE ANY POWERS TO SETTLE THE LEGAL PROBLEMS RAISED BY THE BASIC DECISIONS . NO INTERESTED PARTY WITH DUE WARNING, SUCH AS THE APPLICANT, COULD HAVE BEEN IGNORANT OF THESE FACTS, THE MORE SO SINCE THE INVESTIGATORS WERE ACCOUNTANTS FROM A PRIVATE FIRM BASED IN A NON-MEMBER COUNTRY . IN ADDITION, IT APPEARS FROM THE LETTER FROM THE DEFENDANT TO THE OCCF OF 18 DECEMBER 1957 ( OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF 1 FEBRUARY 1958, P.45 ET SEQ .) THAT, ' SINCE THE INCEPTION ' OF THE FINANCIAL SCHEME, THE ORGANS RESPONSIBLE FOR ITS ADMINISTRATION HAD APPLIED THE CONCEPT OF ' OWN RESOURCES ' TO MEAN ' SCRAP RECOVERED BY ( THE CONSUMER UNDERTAKING ) IN ITS OWN WORKS BEARING THE SAME COMPANY NAME '. THIS BEING SO, THE APPLICANT COULD NOT AT ANY TIME BE CERTAIN THAT IT WOULD NOT HAVE TO PAY THE CONTRIBUTIONS IN QUESTION . THE APPLICANT'S ALLEGATION IS THEREFORE UNFOUNDED, EVEN IF ITS CLAIMS CONCERNING THE CONDUCT OF THE OFFICIALS OF THE SFS ARE ACCURATE IN FACT . ACCORDINGLY, IT IS NOT NECESSARY TO GRANT THE APPLICANT'S REQUEST FOR AN INQUIRY INTO THE MATTER . IT FOLLOWS FROM THESE CONSIDERATIONS THAT THE APPLICATION FOR DAMAGES MUST BE REJECTED .