HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"EN
28.2.2011 Official
Journal
of
the
European
Union L
55/19
STATEMENT BY THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL AND THE COMMISSION
Article 5(2) of this Regulation requires the Commission to adopt a draft implementing act where the
committee delivers a positive opinion. This provision does not preclude that Commission may, as is the
current practice, in very exceptional cases, take into consideration new circumstances that have arisen after
the vote and decide not to adopt a draft implementing act, after having duly informed the committee and
the legislator.
STATEMENTS BY THE COMMISSION
The Commission will proceed to an examination of all legislative acts in force which were not adapted to
the regulatory procedure with scrutiny before the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty, in order to assess if
those instruments need to be adapted to the regime of delegated acts introduced by Article 290 of the
Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. The Commission will make the appropriate proposals as
soon as possible and no later than at the dates mentioned in the indicative calendar annexed to this
declaration.
While this alignment exercise is underway, the Commission will keep the European Parliament regularly
informed on draft implementing measures related to these instruments which should become, in the future,
delegated acts.
As regards legislative acts in force which currently contain references to the regulatory procedure with
scrutiny, the Commission will review the provisions attached to this procedure in each instrument it intends
to modify, in order to adapt them in due course according to the criteria laid down in the Treaty. In
addition, the European Parliament and the Council will be entitled to signal basic acts they consider
important to adapt as a matter of priority.
The Commission will assess the results of this process by the end of 2012 in order to estimate how many
legislative acts containing references to the regulatory procedure with scrutiny remain in force. The
Commission will then prepare the appropriate legislative initiatives to complete the adaptation. The
overall objective of the Commission is that, by the end of the 7th term of the Parliament, all provisions
referring to the regulatory procedure with scrutiny would have been removed from all legislative
instruments.
The Commission notes that it has recently launched a study which will provide a complete and objective
review of all aspects of the EU's trade defence policy and practice, including an evaluation of the
performance, methods, utilisation and effectiveness of the present TDI scheme in achieving its trade
policy objectives, an evaluation of the effectiveness of the existing and potential policy decisions of the
European Union (e.g., the Union interest test, the lesser duty rule, the duty collection system) in comparison
with the policy decisions made by certain trading partners and an examination of the basic anti-dumping
and anti-subsidy regulations in light of the administrative practice of the EU institutions, the judgments of
the Court of Justice of the European Union and the recommendations and rulings of the WTO Dispute
Settlement Body.
The Commission intends, in the light of the results of the study and of developments in the Doha
Development Agenda negotiations to explore whether and how to further update and modernize the
EU's trade defence instruments
The Commission also recalls the recent initiatives it has taken to improve the transparency of the operation
of trade defence instruments (such as the appointment of a Hearing Officer) and its work with Member
States to clarify key elements of trade defence practice. The Commission attaches substantial importance to
this work, and will seek to identify, in consultation with the Member States, other initiatives which could be
taken in this respect.

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L 55/20
EN
Official Journal of the European Union
28.2.2011
Under the comitology rules based on Council Decision 1999/468/EC, where a Common Agricultural Policy
(CAP) management committee has delivered an unfavourable opinion, the Commission must submit the
draft measure in question to the Council which may take a different decision within a month. However, the
Commission is not barred from acting but has the choice to either put the measure in place or defer its
application. Hence, the Commission may take the measure where it considers on balance that suspending its
application would for instance provoke irreversible negative market effects. When afterwards the Council
decides otherwise the measure put in effect by the Commission becomes of course redundant. Thus the
current rules equip the Commission with an instrument that allows protecting the common interest of the
whole Union by adopting a measure at least on an interim basis.
Article 7 of this Regulation pursues the objective of maintaining this approach within the new comitology
arrangements but limited to exceptional situations and on the basis of clearly defined and restrictive criteria.
It would allow the Commission to adopt a draft measure despite the unfavourable opinion of the exam
ination committee provided that its ‘non adoption within an imperative deadline would create a significant
disruption of the markets (…) or for the financial interests of the Union.’ The provision refers to situations
where it is not possible to wait until the committee votes again on the same or another draft measure
because in the meantime the market would be significantly disrupted e.g. due to the speculative behaviour
of operators. To ensure the Union's ability to act it would give Member States and the Commission the
opportunity to have another informed discussion on the draft measure without leaving things undecided
and open to speculation with the negative consequences for the markets and the budget.
Such situations may namely arise in the context of the day-to-day management of the CAP (e.g. fixing of
export refunds, management of licences, special safeguard clause) where decisions need often to be taken
quickly and can have significant economic consequences for the markets and thus farmers and operators but
also for the budget of the Union.
In cases where the European Parliament or the Council indicate to the Commission that they consider a
draft implementing act to exceed the implementing powers provided for in the basic act, the Commission
will immediately review the draft implementing act taking into account the positions expressed by the
European Parliament or the Council.
The Commission will act in a manner which takes duly into account the urgency of the matter.
Before deciding whether the draft implementing act shall be adopted, amended or withdrawn, the
Commission will inform the European Parliament or the Council of the action it intends to take and of
its reasons for doing so.

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