The Council's common position approved the substance of the Commission's proposal by making some amendments to which the Commission can agree upon. These amendments concern, in particular, the proposal's choice of legal basis (Article 152, paragraph 4 of the EC Treaty instead of Article 100 A), as well as the introduction of the obligation to examine the outcome of the inspections made shall be discussed with the competent authorities before a final report is drawn up and circulated.
The Council, furthermore, has introduced an important amendment aiming to amend the first Article, point 4, of the Commission's initial proposal and to add the first Article, point 8, to the proposed amendments. Originally, this provision allowed the Commission, in cases of emergency posing serious risk to human health or animal health or the environment, to take immediate protective measures against products imported from the third countries, without previously consulting the Member States. The Council has decided that the Commission on its own initiative or at the request of a Member State, shall immediately take the necessary measures.
The Council introduced a new Article "23a" stipulating the procedure to take a safeguard measure based on Article 5 of Decision 99/468/EC on comitology.�