1.1 The Commission’s responsibilities under Article 7c of the EC Treaty, were to (i) "take into account the extent of the effort that certain economies showing differences in developments will have to sustain during the period of establishment of the internal market" and (ii) to consider the proposal of "appropriate provisions".
1.2 La Commission a, certes, considéré qu'il appartenait principalement aux États membres de soutenir le secteur douanier, mais elle a également jugé utile de mettre en place des mesures communautaires de soutien.