L 52/64 Official Journal of the European Union 21.2.2004 COUNCIL DECISION of 10 February 2004 concerning the dock dues in the French overseas departments and extending the period of validity of Decision 89/688/EEC (2004/162[EC) THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Com- munity, and in particular Article 299(2) thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament ('), Whereas: Pursuant to Article 299(2) of the Treaty, the provisions of the Treaty apply to the outermost regions and hence the French overseas departments, taking account of their structural social and economic situation, which is compounded by their remoteness, insularity, small size, difficult topography and climate, economic dependence on a few products, the permanence and combination of which severely restrain their development. This Treaty provision dovetails with measures adopted previously in aid of the outermost regions, in particular the French overseas departments (DOMs), in Council Decision 89/ 687[EEC of 22 December 1989 establishing a programme of options specific to the remote and insular nature of the French overseas departments (Poseidom) (3). Article 2(3) of Council Decision 89/688/EEC of 22 December 1989 concerning the dock dues in the French overseas departments (°) states that in the light of the specific constraints on the overseas departments, partial or total exemptions from dock dues may be authorised for local production activities for a period of not more than 10 years from the date of the introduction of the charge. This period should have expired on 31 December 2002 as the system was introduced on 1 January 1993. Pursuant to Article 3 of Decision 89/688/EEC, the Commission had to submit a report on the implementa- tion of the arrangements in order to ascertain the (") Opinion of 15 January 2004 (not yet published in the Official Journal). () OJ L 399, 30.12.1989, p. 39. () OJ L 399, 30.12.1989, p. 46. Decision as amended by Decision 2002/973[EC (O] L 337, 31.12.2002, p. 83). impact of the measures adopted and decide whether to maintain the possibility of exemptions. In the report that it sent to the Council on 24 November 1999, the Commission concludes that the four DOMs are in a much more fragile economic and social situation compared with the rest of the European Union by virtue of being outermost regions. The Commission underlines the importance of dock dues and exemptions for local production in terms of the social and economic develop- ment of these regions. According to the Commission report of 14 March 2000 on the measures to implement Article 299(2) of the Treaty, this Article must be implemented in partnership with the Member States concerned on the basis of detailed requests from them. On 12 March 2002 France sent a request to the Commission to extend exemptions from dock dues for 10 years. The request did not specify which goods were to be exempted under the future system or the rate differentials between local products and imports or the grounds for these exemptions and rate differentials with regard to the handicaps of the DOMs. In these circum- stances, in order to avoid a legal vacuum being created by the lack of a complete request, the period of applica- tion of Decision 89/688/EEC was extended by one year under Decision 2002/973/EC (%). On 14 April 2003 France sent a further request to the Commission, in response to the above requirements. In this request, the French authorities asked for the Council Decision to apply for a period of 15 years, subject to a three-yearly review of the need to adjust the scheme. France sought to apply a scheme of differential taxation of dock dues enabling goods from outside the DOMs to be taxed more heavily that products from the DOMs in question. The differential of 10 percentage points would apply mainly to basic products and those for which a balance has been achieved between local and external production. The 20-point differential would cover products requiring substantial investment which had an impact on the cost price of goods manufactured locally for a limited market. The 30-point differential would apply mainly to products manufactured by large-scale enterprises and to products which are extremely vulner- able to imports from the DOMs' neighbouring countries. () OJ L 337, 13.12.2002, p. 83.