One of the most problematic issues for achieving a common position has been the legal basis (100A) of the proposal. With the entry into force of the Treaty of Amsterdam, the Council and the Commission agreed that the proposal should be based on Article 152 (4). The Commission was also able to agree with editorial and minor formulation changes to the Commission proposal because these improve its clarity.
On the other hand, the Commission cannot agree with the regulatory procedure chosen by the Council to take emergency protective measures against imports from third countries. Unlike the safeguard procedures as proposed by the Commission, this would not provide the means for rapid action when so required by an emergency situation.
The Commission made a written unilateral statement for the minutes of the Council meeting at which the common position was adopted, in which it underlined that it maintained its proposal for a safeguard procedure, in line with the comitology decision (Decision 1999/468/EEC) since only this procedure would ensure that a prompt decision can be taken in each and every case.�