Keywords
Summary

Keywords

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1 . AGRICULTURE - COMMON AGRICULTURAL POLICY - COUNCIL - POWERS - CONJUNCTURAL INTERVENTION - URGENT MEASURES - ARTICLE 103 OF THE EEC TREATY - APPLICATION - VALIDITY

( EEC TREATY, ARTICLE 40, ARTICLE 43, ARTICLE 103 )

2 . CONJUNCTURAL POLICY - COMMUNITY INSTITUTIONS - POWERS - MEASURES APPROPRIATE TO THE SITUATION - FORM - CHOICE MADE BY THE COUNCIL

( EEC TREATY, ARTICLE 103 )

3 . EEC - COMMUNITY INSTITUTIONS - BURDENS IMPOSED ON COMMUNITY SUBJECTS - LIMITATION TO THOSE STRICTLY NECESSARY - DUTY - SCOPE

4 . PRELIMINARY RULINGS - ACTS OF INSTITUTIONS - VALIDITY - ASSESSMENT IN THE LIGHT OF INTERNATIONAL LAW - CRITERIA

( EEC TREATY, ARTICLE 177 )

5 . GENERAL AGREEMENT ON TARIFFS AND TRADE - ARTICLE II - NO PERSONAL RIGHTS OF COMMUNITY SUBJECTS

6 . COMMUNITY LAW - COMMON CUSTOMS TARIFF - DIRECT EFFECT - CRITERIA

7 . BALANCE OF PAYMENTS - EXCHANGE RATES - POLICY OF MEMBER STATES - DUTY - NO DIRECT EFFECT

( EEC TREATY, ARTICLE 5, ARTICLE 107; COUNCIL RESOLUTION OF 22 MARCH 1971 )

8 . AGRICULTURE - IMPORTS FROM THIRD COUNTRIES - COMPENSATORY AMOUNTS - NATURE - IMPOSITION - AUTHORIZATION WHERE RATES OF EXCHANGE ARE FLUCTUATING - VALIDITY UNDER THE COMMON CUSTOMS TARIFF

( REGULATION ( EEC ) NO 974/71 OF THE COUNCIL; REGULATIONS ( EEC ) NOS 1013/71, 1014/71 AND 501/72 OF THE COMMISSION )

Summary

1 . THE POWERS GIVEN BY ARTICLES 40 AND 43 ( 2 ) OF THE TREATY FOR IMPLEMENTING THE COMMON AGRICULTURAL POLICY DO NOT RELATE MERELY TO STRUCTURAL MEASURES BUT EXTEND EQUALLY TO ANY IMMEDIATE SHORT-TERM ECONOMIC INTERVENTION REQUIRED IN THIS SPHERE OF PRODUCTION . THE COUNCIL IS EMPOWERED TO HAVE RECOURSE THERETO IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE DECISION-MAKING PROCEDURES PROVIDED FOR .

ARTICLE 103, ON THE OTHER HAND, SINCE IT REFERS TO MEMBER STATES' CONJUNCTURAL POLICIES, DOESNOT CONCERN THOSE AREAS ALREADY MADE SUBJECT TO COMMON RULES, AS IS THE ORGANIZATION OF THE AGRICULTURAL MARKETS . THE REAL OBJECT OF ARTICLE 103 IS THE COORDINATION OF MEMBER STATES' CONJUNCTURAL POLICIES AND THE ADOPTION OF APPROPRIATE COMMON MEASURES .

BEARING IN MIND THE MONETARY SITUATION AT THE TIME, THE DISPUTED MEASURES WERE ADOPTED, AND THE FACT THAT THE COMMON AGRICULTURAL POLICY CONTAINED NO ADEQUATE PROVISION FOR THE CASE WHICH WOULD ENABLE THE NECESSARY MEASURES TO BE TAKEN IN ORDER TO DEAL WITH SUCH MONETARY SITUATIONS, THE COUNCIL WAS JUSTIFIED IN MAKING INTERIM USE OF THE POWERS CONFERRED ON IT BY ARTICLE 103 OF THE TREATY .

2 . ARTICLE 103 DOES NOT PRECLUDE COMMUNITY INSTITUTIONS FROM HAVING POWERS TO INTRODUCE, WITHOUT PREJUDICE TO OTHER PROCEDURES SET OUT IN THE TREATY, ANY CONJUNCTURAL MEASURES WHICH MAY APPEAR TO BE NECESSARY IN ORDER TO SAFEGUARD THE OBJECTIVES OF THE TREATY . THE COUNCIL SHALL IN EACH INSTANCE SELECT THE FORM TO BE TAKEN BY THE MEASURE WHICH IT CONSIDERS TO BE THE MOST SUITABLE .

3 . WHILE THE COMMUNITY INSTITUTIONS MUST ENSURE IN THE EXERCISE OF THEIR POWERS, THAT THE AMOUNTS WHICH COMMERCIAL OPERATORS ARE CHARGED ARE NO GREATER THAN IS REQUIRED TO ACHIEVE THE AIM WHICH THE AUTHORITIES ARE TO ACCOMPLISH, IT DOES NOT NECESSARILY FOLLOW THAT THAT OBLIGATION MUST BE MEASURED IN RELATION TO THE INDIVIDUAL SITUATION OF ANY ONE PARTICULAR GROUP OF OPERATORS . 4 . THE VALIDITY OF ACTS OF THE INSTITUTIONS, WITHIN THE MEANING OF ARTICLE 177 OF THE TREATY, CANNOT BE TESTED AGAINST ANY RULE OF INTERNATIONAL LAW UNLESS THAT RULE IS BINDING ON THE COMMUNITY AND CAPABLE OF CREATING RIGHTS OF WHICH INTERESTED PARTIES MAY AVAIL THEMSELVES IN A COURT OF LAW .

5 . ARTICLE II OF THE GENERAL AGREEMENT ON TARIFFS AND TRADE CANNOT CONFER ON COMMUNITY SUBJECTS A RIGHT TO INVOKE IT IN A COURT OF LAW .

6 . THE REFERENCE TO CONSOLIDATD DUTY UNDER THE HEADING " AGREED DUTIES " IN THE COMMON CUSTOMS TARIFF, IS CAPABLE OF GIVING RISE TO RIGHTS OF WHICH SUCH PARTIES MAY AVAIL THEMSELVES IN A COURT OF LAW, SINCE IT IS PART OF A COMMUNITY REGULATION . IT IS IN ITSELF CLEAR AND PRECISE, AND DOES NOT LEAVE ANY MARGIN OF DISCRETION TO THE AUTHORITIES BY WHOM IT IS TO BE APPLIED .

7 . NEITHER ARTICLES 5 AND 107 OF THE TREATY, ( SO LONG AS THE PROCEDURES SET OUT IN ARTICLE 3 ( G ) HAVE NOT BEEN APPLIED ), NOR THE RESOLUTION ADOPTED BY THE COUNCIL AND GOVERNMENT REPRESENTATIVES OF MEMBER STATES ON 22 MARCH 1971 ON THE ESTABLISHMENT BY STAGES OF AN ECONOMIC AND MONETARY UNION, CAN BE INTERPRETED AS, IN THEMSELVES, IMPOSING ON MEMBER STATES A PROHIBITION AGAINST ALTERING THE EXCHANGE PARITY OF THEIR CURRENCIES OTHERWISE THAN BY ESTABLISHING A NEW FIXED PARITY, WHICH MIGHT BE INVOKED BY INTERESTED PARTIES IN THE NATIONAL COURTS .

8 . COMPENSATORY AMOUNTS ARE COMMUNITY MEASURES WHICH, WHILE THEY DO CONSTITUTE A PARTITIONING OF THE MARKET, SERVE TO COMPENSATE FOR VARIATIONS IN FLUCTUATING EXCHANGE RATES AND THUS HELP TO PRESERVE THE NORMAL FLOW OF TRADE IN PRODUCTS UNDER THE EXCEPTIONAL CONDITIONS TEMPORARILY CREATED BY THE MONETARY SITUATION .

THEIR OBJECT IS TO PREVENT THE COLLAPSE OF THE INTERVENTION SYSTEM SET UP UNDER COMMUNITY LAW IN THE MEMBER STATE AFFECTED .

THESE ARE NOT LEVIES DETERMINED BY MEMBER STATES UNILATERALLY, BUT COMMUNITY MEASURES WHICH, BEARING IN MIND THE EXCEPTIONAL CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE TIME, ARE PERMISSIBLE WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF THE COMMON AGRICULTURAL POLICY .