Thirty-fifth Review of the Council's work

Council Of The European Union

Description

Activities of the institutions and bodies

Sujets

• Annual report
• Common Agricultural Policy
• Council of the European Union
• Common Fisheries Policy
• Economie gestion

Informations

• Publié par: COUNCIL-OF-THE-EUROPEAN-UNION
• Nombre de lectures: 10
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 3 Mo

Extrait

General Secretariat of the Council
of the European Communities
THIRTY-FIFTH REVIEW
OF THE
COUNCIL'S WORK
1 JANUARY — 31 DECEMBER 1987 General Secretariat of the Council
of the European Communities
THIRTY-FIFTH REVIEW
OF THE
COUNCIL'S WORK
1 JANUARY — 31 DECEMBER 1987 This publication is also available in:
ES ISBN 92-824-0596-6
DAN 92-824-0597-4
DEN 92-824-0598-2
GR ISBN 92-824-0599-0
FRN 92-824-0601-6
ITN 92-824-0602-4
NL ISBN 92-824-0603-2
FT ISBN 92-824-0604-0
Cataloguing data can be found at the end of this publication
Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 1989
ISBN 92-824-0600-8
Catalogue number: BX-53-88-172-EN-C
© ECSC-EEC-EAEC, Brussels · Luxembourg, 1988
Printed in the FR of Germany Contents
Introduction 5
CHAPTER I — Work of the institutions 11
A — Council 1
Β — Institutional affairs3
C — Parliamentary affairs7
D — Court of Justice 29
E — Economic and Social Committee
F — Conventions 30
CHAPTER II — Internal market1
A — Free movement of goods and approximation of legislation —
Customs union — Industrial policy — Iron and steel industry ... 3
Β — Right of establishment and freedom to provide services 4
C — Intellectual property 44
CHAPTER III — Economic and social policy7
A — Economic, financial and tax questions and export credits 4
Β — Social policy 52
C — Regional policy8
D — Development of a Community energy policy 61
E — Transport 6
F — Research 76
G — Environment9
H — Health 85
I — Other matters
CHAPTER IV — External relations and relations with the Associated
States 9
A — Commercial policy

Β ■ ­ Relations with the industrialized countries 99
C — s with the State­tradingcountries105
D — Development cooperation 107
E — RelationswiththeACPStates andtheoverseascountries and
territories114
F — Mediterranean—Euro­ArabDialogue — Gulf States 118
G — Latin America—Asia131
H — North­South Dialogue133
CHAPTER V — Commonfisheriespolicy 141
A — Community system ofresourcesmanagement141
Β — Common organizationofthemarketsinfishery products 148
C — Research policy 151
D —Relationsbetweenthe Community and certain non­member coun­
trieswithregardto fisheries151
E —CountriesofAfrica and North Africa, the Indian Oceanandthe
Caribbean154
F —Internationalorganizations156
CHAPTER VI — Common agricultural policy 157
A — Overall form of the commonagriculturalpolicy157
Β — Management of the commonl policy164
C — Coordination of the position oftheMember States with regard to
international matters 171
D — Harmonizationoflaws172
E — Policy onagriculturalstructures175
CHAPTER VII—Budgetaryandadministrative matters 181
A — Budgetary matters181
Β — Other budgetary matters 189
C — Staff Regulations190
Tables ... :195
List of abbreviations199
Index 203Introduction
The entry into effect of the Single European Act on 1 July 198 7 had such an impact
on the Community that it overshadowed all the other events of the year. It
demonstrates that, far from marking time, European integration b well under way.
The Single European Act is in itself a pointer: internally it shows Europeans that their
Community is a living organization and to the outside world it demonstrates the
European Community's dynamism and international standing.
The Council has attached great importance to the implementation of the Single Act,
since it is keen to put into practice the ideas behind it: to strengthen economic and
social cohesion, to complete the internal market by the end of 1992, to stabilize
agricultural expenditure, and to introduce new Community policies on the environ­
ment and research. The Commission's proposals in these variousfields and those pro­
viding for new resources (Delors package) were discussed in depth: at its meeting in
June 198 7, the European Council laid down a number of specific guidelines. It also
laid down a procedurefor the rapid adoption of all the decisions necessary to achieve
the objectives set by the Single European Act for the creation of a common economic
area. On this basis, the Commission put before the Council key proposals on financial
and agricultural questions and on the subject of economic and social cohesion. The
Council was particularly assiduous in dealing with these proposals, particularly at
the Copenhagen European Council in December 1987.
Work on completing the single market, which is another vital element in the Single
Act, continued under the new procedure introduced by the Single Act, involving
mainly cooperation with the European Parliament.
The Council signed or accepted various international customs conventions, in­
cluding the International Convention on the Harmonized Commodity Description
and Coding System. It also completed its work on the majority of the proposals for
eliminating technical barriers to trade, particularly for motor vehicles and phar­
maceutical products. The introduction of a new nomenclature for the Common
Customs Tariff and that of a new Community document for customs and statistical
purposes were further important steps towards the single market. Several measures
to encourage the development of new telecommunications technologies were also
adopted. The Council kept a close watch on the process of restructuring in the steel industry
and decided to accept the extension of the quota system and to re-examine the
post-1988 funding of welfare arrangements for workers in this sector.
Work continued on establishing freedom to provide services in the mortgage sector
and on other measures under discussion concerning financial institutions, the liberal
professions, insurance, company law, and broadcasting.
Agreement was reached on technical reforms to strengthen the European Monetary
System, in particular the extension of official use of the ecu. Measures were im­
plemented to increase the transparency of export credits, and at the same time the
Council continued its examination of the Commission's proposals on the elimination
of tax frontiers.
Discussions on the completion of the 1987 budgetary procedure continued on the
basisofa Commission letter of amendment to the 1987 draft budget, following which
the Council and Parliament were able to come to an agreement in February 1987.
Owing to the loss of revenue caused by the sharp fall in the dollar and to increased
expenditure by the EAGGF Guarantee Section, the appropriations entered in the
1987 budget proved inadequate.
A supplementary and amending budget drew, among other measures, on the VAT
resources stillavailable in 1987up to the maximum of1.4%. As for the deliberations
on the 1988 draft budget, they had not been concluded by the end of 1987.
The year saw steady economic growth: private consumption rose by an average of
3.1%, while inflation fell by the same amount, employment rose by 0.8%, and
unemployment fell very slightly.
It is against this background that the Council asked the Commission to pu t forward
an action programme to assist the long-term unemployed, comparing and improving
the national programmes in this field, with emphasis on the need for continuing
education for adults.
It abo decided to implement a programme intended mainly to back Member
States'efforts to provide vocationaltraining forallyoung people in addition to com­
pulsory schooling. The Council also expressed its concern at the difficulties ex­
perienced by women in the employment market and stressed the need to improve and
adapt policies for the vocational training of women and for promoting equal oppor­
tunity. The problems involved in establishing new industries in regions affected by structural
difficulties, such as the decline in the shipbuilding or steel industries, were examined
in the context of new action programmes.
Research and technological development became a Community concern with theen-
try into force of the Single European Act on I July 1987. The Council accordingly
adopted an initial multi-annual framework programme for 1987 to 1991, laying down
the scientific and technical objectives, the priorities and certain financial provisions
in this field. Several specific programmes had already been adopted under this
framework programme by the end of the year.
With a view to the creation of a people's Europe, the Erasmus programme to promote
mobility among students in the Community and cooperation between universities
in all the Member States became operational from the beginning of July 1987. One
of the aims behind this programme is to produce qualified people with direct ex­
perience of living in other countries.
Although the energy situation is at present favourable, the Council is keeping a close
watch on developments in national policies and on possible trends in the energy
market. This is why it is seeking to increase energy efficiency and is examining both
the situation in the building sector and the use of electricity.
The Council considers that natural gas, which is ecologically clean and guarantees
security of supply, should be distributed via a more integrated European n