Keywords
Summary

Keywords

1. Association of the overseas countries and territories - Implementation by the Council - Decision 91/482 - Mid-term review - Time-limit - Implications for the competence of the Council under Article 136 of the Treaty (now, after amendment, Article 187 EC) - No effect

(EC Treaty, Art. 132 (now Art. 183 EC) and Art. 136 (now, after amendment, Art. 187 EC); Council Decision 91/482, Art. 240(3))

2. Community law - Principles - Protection of legitimate expectations - Limits - Amendments to rules concerning the association of the overseas countries and territories - Discretionary power of the institutions - Statement in a publicly distributed leaflet having no legal status - No effect

(Council Decision 91/482)

3. Association of the overseas countries and territories - Implementation by the Council - Adoption of provisions laying down detailed arrangements and procedures for association - Successive decisions - Curtailment, in case of need, of certain advantages previously granted to the overseas countries and territories - Whether permissible

(EC Treaty, Arts 40, 43 and 136, second para. (now, after amendment, Arts 34 EC, 37 EC and 187, second para., EC) and Arts 41 and 42 (now Arts 35 EC and 36 EC))

4. Association of the overseas countries and territories - Implementation by the Council - Quota fixed for sugar imports under the ACP/OCT cumulation of origin rules - Whether in infringement of Article 133(1) and Article 136, second paragraph, of the Treaty (now, after amendment, Article 184(1) EC and Article 187, second paragraph, EC) - No such infringement

(EC Treaty, Arts 133(1) and 136, second para. (now, after amendment, Art. 184(1) EC and Art. 187, second para., EC); Council Decisions 91/482, Art. 108b, and 97/803)

5. Association of the overseas countries and territories - Implementation by the Council - Quota fixed for sugar imports under the ACP/OCT cumulation of origin rules - Principle of proportionality - Whether breached - No such breach

(Council Decisions 91/482, Art. 108b, and 97/803)

Summary

$$1. Although Article 240(3) of Decision 91/482 on the association of the overseas countries and territories (OCT) provides that, before the end of the first five years, the Council is to establish, where necessary, any amendments to be made to the provisions governing the association between the OCTs and the Community, that cannot deprive the Council of its competence, conferred directly by the Treaty, to amend the acts which it has adopted under Article 136 thereof (now, after amendment, Article 187 EC) in order to attain all the objectives set out in Article 132 of the Treaty (now Article 183 EC).

( see para. 33 )

2. Whilst the protection of legitimate expectations is one of the fundamental principles of the Community, traders cannot have a legitimate expectation that an existing situation which is capable of being altered by the Community institutions in the exercise of their discretion will be maintained; this is particularly true in an area such as the common organisation of the markets whose purpose involves constant adjustments to meet changes in the economic situation.

That necessarily applies with greater force where the hopes purportedly entertained by the traders were raised by a publicly distributed leaflet having no legal status, such as an information brochure circulated in October 1993 by the Commission and affirming that Decision 91/482 on the association of the overseas countries and territories was applicable for ten years. Furthermore, at the time when that brochure appeared, the Commission was fully entitled to state that the that Decision had been adopted for a period of ten years and was under no obligation to give details in such a document of any amendments that might be made.

( see paras 34-35 )

3. Although the dynamic and progressive process characterising the association of the overseas countries and territories (OCTs) with the Community requires that account be taken by the Council of the experience acquired as a result of its earlier decisions, the fact nevertheless remains that the Council, when adopting measures under the second paragraph of Article 136 of the Treaty (now, after amendment, Article 187, second paragraph, EC), must take account both of the principles set out in Part Four of the Treaty and of the other principles of Community law, including those relating to the common agricultural policy.

In weighing the various objectives laid down by the Treaty, whilst taking overall account of the experience acquired as a result of its earlier decisions, the Council, which enjoys for that purpose a considerable margin of discretion reflecting the political responsibilities entrusted to it by Article 40 of the Treaty (now, after amendment, Article 34 EC), Articles 41 and 42 of the Treaty (now Articles 35 EC and 36 EC), Article 43 of the Treaty (now, after amendment, Article 37 EC) and Article 136 of the Treaty, may be prompted, in case of need, to curtail certain advantages previously granted to the OCTs. That is particularly true where the advantages in question are of an extraordinary nature, having regard to the rules on the functioning of the Community market.

( see paras 38-39, 41 )

4. The validity of the measure provided for in Article 108b of Decision 91/482 on the association of the overseas countries and territories (OCTs), inserted by Decision 97/803, cannot be called in question in the light of Article 133(1) and the second paragraph of Article 136 of the Treaty (now, after amendment, Article 184(1) EC and the second paragraph of Article 187 EC) on the ground that it fixed a quota for sugar imports under the ACP/OCT cumulation of origin rules.

First, as far as trade in sugar is concerned, dismantling of the intra-Community customs tariff came about only after the creation of a common organisation of the market in sugar, which led to the simultaneous establishment of a common external tariff and determination of a minimum price applicable in all the Member States, with the aim, in particular, of eliminating distortions of competition. Thus, in the absence of any common agricultural policy as between the OCTs and the Community, measures designed to prevent distortions of competition or disturbance of the Community market, which may take the form of a tariff quota, cannot, merely because of their adoption, be regarded as contrary to Article 133(1) of the Treaty.

Secondly, the second paragraph of Article 136 of the Treaty states expressly that the Council is to act on the basis of the experience acquired and of the principles set out in this Treaty. Those principles include the ones relating to the common agricultural policy and, consequently, the Council cannot be criticised for having taken into account, in implementing the second paragraph of Article 136 of the Treaty, the requirements of the common agricultural policy.

( see paras 47-50 )

5. The measure contained in Article 108b of Decision 91/482 on the association of the overseas countries and territories (OCTs), inserted by Decision 97/803 and consisting in the introduction of a quota for sugar imports under the ACP/OCT cumulation of origin rules, cannot be regarded as contrary to the principle of proportionality.

In a sphere such as the association of the overseas countries and territories, in which the Community institutions have a broad discretion, the lawfulness of a measure can be affected only if the measure is manifestly inappropriate having regard to the objective pursued. The Court's review must be limited in particular if the Council has to reconcile divergent interests and thus select options within the context of the policy choices which are its own responsibility. The introduction of the quota fixed by Article 108b above cannot be considered, in that context, to have manifestly exceeded what was necessary to attain the objectives pursued by the Council.

( see paras 53-54, 58 )

6. Interim measures vis-à-vis a non-Community authority can be ordered by a national court in the event of an infringement of Community law being imminent only:

- if that court entertains serious doubts as to the validity of the Community measure implemented by that authority and, should the question of the validity of the contested measure not already have been brought before the Court of Justice, itself refers that question to the Court of Justice;

- if there is urgency and a threat of serious and irreparable damage to the applicant; and

- if the national court takes due account of the Community's interests.

The fact that such interim measures would be ordered vis-à-vis an authority of an overseas country or territory (OCT) by a court of a Member State, in accordance with its domestic law, is not such as to affect the conditions under which the temporary protection of individuals must be ensured in proceedings before the national courts when the dispute concerns a matter of Community law.

( see para. 73, operative part 2 )