1.The supply of ores, source materials and special fissile materials shall be ensured, in accordance with the provisions of this Chapter, by means of a common supply policy on the principle of equal access to sources of supply.
2.For this purpose and under the conditions laid down in this Chapter:
(a)all practices designed to secure a privileged position for certain users shall be prohibited;
(b)an Agency is hereby established; it shall have a right of option on ores, source materials and special fissile materials produced in the territories of Member States and an exclusive right to conclude contracts relating to the supply of ores, source materials and special fissile materials coming from inside the Community or from outside.
The Agency may not discriminate in any way between users on grounds of the use which they intend to make of the supplies requested unless such use is unlawful or is found to be contrary to the conditions imposed by suppliers outside the Community on the consignment in question.
The Agency shall be under the supervision of the Commission, which shall issue directives to it, possess a right of veto over its decisions and appoint its Director General and Deputy Director General.
Any act, whether implied or expressed, performed by the Agency in the exercise of its right of option or of its exclusive right to conclude supply contracts, may be referred by the parties concerned to the Commission, which shall give a decision thereon within one month.
The Agency shall have legal personality and financial autonomy.
The Council shall lay down the statutes of the Agency, acting by a qualified majority on a proposal from the Commission.
The statutes may be amended in accordance with the same procedure.
The statutes shall determine the Agency's capital and the terms upon which it is to be subscribed. The major part of the capital shall always belong to the Community and to the Member States. The contributions to the capital shall be determined by common accord of the Member States.
The rules for the commercial management of the activities of the Agency shall be laid down in the statutes. The latter may provide for a charge on transactions to defray the operating expenses of the Agency.
The Member States shall communicate or cause to be communicated to the Agency all the information necessary to enable it to exercise its right of option and its exclusive right to conclude supply contracts.
The Member States shall be responsible for ensuring that the Agency may operate freely in their territories.
They may establish one or more bodies having authority to represent, in relations with the Agency, producers and users in the non European territories under their jurisdiction.
1.The right of option of the Agency shall cover:
(a)the acquisition of rights to use and consume materials owned by the Community under the provisions of Chapter 8;
(b)the acquisition of the right of ownership in all other cases.
2.The Agency shall exercise its right of option by concluding contracts with producers of ores, source materials and special fissile materials.
Subject to Articles 58, 62 and 63, every producer shall offer to the Agency the ores, source materials or special fissile materials which he produces within the territories of Member States before they are used, transferred or stored.
Where a producer carries out several stages of production from extraction of the ore up to and including production of the metal, he may offer the product to the Agency at whichever stage of production he chooses.
The same shall apply to two or more connected undertakings, where the connection has been duly communicated to the Commission and discussed with it in accordance with the procedures laid down in Articles 43 and 44.
If the Agency does not exercise its right of option on the whole or any part of the output of a producer, the latter:
may, either by using his own resources or under contract, process or cause to be processed the ores, source materials or special fissile materials, provided that he offers to the Agency the product of such processing;
shall be authorised by a decision of the Commission to dispose of his available production outside the Community, provided that the terms he offers are not more favourable than those previously offered to the Agency. However, special fissile materials may be exported only through the Agency and in accordance with the provisions of Article 62.
The Commission may not grant such authorisation if the recipients of the supplies fail to satisfy it that the general interests of the Community will be safeguarded or if the terms and conditions of such contracts are contrary to the objectives of this Treaty.
Potential users shall periodically inform the Agency of the supplies they require, specifying the quantities, the physical and chemical nature, the place of origin, the intended use, delivery dates and price terms, which are to form the terms and conditions of the supply contract which they wish to conclude.
Similarly, producers shall inform the Agency of offers which they are able to make, stating all the specifications, and in particular the duration of contracts, required to enable their production programmes to be drawn up. Such contracts shall be of not more than 10 years' duration save with the agreement of the Commission.
The Agency shall inform all potential users of the offers and of the volume of applications which it has received and shall call upon them to place their orders by a specified time limit.
When the Agency has received all such orders, it shall make known the terms on which it can meet them.
If the Agency cannot meet in their entirety all the orders received, it shall, subject to the provisions of Articles 68 and 69, share out the supplies proportionately among the orders relating to each offer.
Agency rules, which shall require approval by the Commission, shall determine the manner in which demand is to be balanced against supply.
The Agency shall meet all orders unless prevented from so doing by legal or material obstacles.
When concluding a contract, the Agency may, while complying with the provisions of Article 52, require users to make appropriate advance payments either as security or to assist in meeting the Agency's own long term commitments to producers where these are essential to carrying out the order.
1.The Agency shall exercise its right of option on special fissile materials produced in the territories of Member States in order:
(a)to meet demand from users within the Community in accordance with Article 60; or
(b)to store such materials itself; or
(c)to export such materials with the authorisation of the Commission which shall comply with the second subparagraph of Article 59(b).
2.Nevertheless, while continuing to be subject to the provisions of Chapter 7, such materials and any fertile wastes shall be left in the possession of the producer, so that he may:
(a)store them with the authorisation of the Agency; or
(b)use them within the limits of his own requirements; or
(c)make them available to undertakings in the Community, within the limits of their requirements, where for carrying out a programme duly communicated to the Commission, these undertakings have with the producer a direct connection which has neither the aim nor the effect of limiting production, technical development or investment or of improperly creating inequalities between users in the Community.
3.The provisions of Article 89(1)(a) shall apply to special fissile materials which are produced in the territories of Member States and on which the Agency has not exercised its right of option.
Ores, source materials and special fissile materials produced by Joint Undertakings shall be allotted to users in accordance with the rules laid down in the statutes or agreements of such undertakings.
The Agency, acting where appropriate within the framework of agreements concluded between the Community and a third State or an international organisation, shall, subject to the exceptions provided for in this Treaty, have the exclusive right to enter into agreements or contracts whose principal aim is the supply of ores, source materials or special fissile materials coming from outside the Community.
[X1Article 60 shall apply to applications from users and to contracts between users and the Agency relating to the supply of ores, source materials or special fissile materials coming from outside the Community.]
The Agency may, however, decide on the geographical origin of supplies provided that conditions which are at least as favourable as those specified in the order are thereby secured for the user.
Editorial Information
Should the Commission find, on application by the users concerned, that the Agency is not in a position to deliver within a reasonable period of time all or part of the supplies ordered, or that it can only do so at excessively high prices, the users shall have the right to conclude directly contracts relating to supplies from outside the Community, provided that such contracts meet in essential respects the requirements specified in their orders.
This right shall be granted for a period of one year; it may be extended if the situation which justified its granting continues.
Users who avail themselves of the right provided for in this Article shall communicate to the Commission the direct contracts which they propose to conclude. The Commission may, within one month, object to the conclusion of such contracts if they are contrary to the objectives of this Treaty.
Save where exceptions are provided for in this Treaty, prices shall be determined as a result of balancing supply against demand as provided in Article 60; the national regulations of the Member States shall not contravene such provisions.
Pricing practices designed to secure a privileged position for certain users in violation of the principle of equal access laid down in the provisions of this Chapter shall be prohibited.
If the Agency finds that any such practices are being employed it shall report them to the Commission.
The Commission may, if it accepts the findings, set the prices of the offers in issue at a level compatible with the principle of equal access.
The Council may fix prices, acting unanimously on a proposal from the Commission.
When the Agency lays down, in pursuance of Article 60, the terms on which orders can be met, it may propose to the users who have placed orders that prices be equalized.
Within the limits set by the budget of the Community, the Commission may, on such conditions as it shall determine, give financial support to prospecting programmes in the territories of Member States.
The Commission may make recommendations to the Member States with a view to the development of prospecting for and exploitation of mineral deposits.
The Member States shall submit annually to the Commission a report on the development of prospecting and production, on probable reserves and on investment in mining which has been made or is planned in their territories. The reports shall be submitted to the Council, together with an opinion from the Commission which shall state in particular what action has been taken by Member States on recommendations made to them under the preceding paragraph.
If, when the matter has been submitted to it by the Commission, the Council finds by a qualified majority that, although the prospects for extraction appear economically justified on a long term basis, prospecting activities and the expansion of mining operations continue to be markedly inadequate, the Member State concerned shall, for as long as it has failed to remedy this situation, be deemed to have waived, both for itself and for its nationals, the right of equal access to other sources of supply within the Community.
The Commission shall make all appropriate recommendations to Member States with regard to revenue or mining regulations.
The Agency may, from material available inside or outside the Community, build up the necessary commercial stocks to facilitate supplies to or normal deliveries by the Community.
The Commission may, where necessary, decide to build up emergency stocks. The method of financing such stocks shall be approved by the Council, acting by a qualified majority on a proposal from the Commission.
Where an agreement or contract between a Member State, a person or an undertaking on the one hand, and a third State, an international organisation or a national of a third State on the other, provides inter alia for delivery of products which come within the province of the Agency, the prior consent of the Commission shall be required for the conclusion or renewal of that agreement or contract, as far as delivery of the products is concerned.
The Commission may exempt from the provisions of this Chapter the transfer, import or export of small quantities of ores, source materials or special fissile materials such as are normally used in research.
The Agency shall be notified of every transfer, import or export operation effected by virtue of this provision.
The provisions of this Chapter shall not apply to commitments relating to the processing, conversion or shaping of ores, source materials or special fissile materials and entered into:
by several persons or undertakings, where the material is to return to the original person or undertaking after being processed, converted or shaped; or
by a person or undertaking and an international organisation or a national of a third State, where the material is processed, converted or shaped outside the Community and then returned to the original person or undertaking; or
by a person or undertaking and an international organisation or a national of a third State, where the material is processed, converted or shaped inside the Community and is then returned either to the original organisation or national or to any other consignee likewise outside the Community designated by such organisation or national.
The persons and undertakings concerned shall, however, notify the Agency of the existence of such commitments and, as soon as the contracts are signed, of the quantities of material involved in the movements. The Commission may prevent the commitments referred to in subparagraph (b) from being undertaken if it considers that the conversion or shaping cannot be carried out efficiently and safely and without the loss of material to the detriment of the Community.
The materials to which such commitments relate shall be subject in the territories of the Member States to the safeguards laid down in Chapter 7. The provisions of Chapter 8 shall not, however, be applicable to special fissile materials covered by the commitments referred to in subparagraph (c).
On the initiative of a Member State or of the Commission, and particularly if unforeseen circumstances create a situation of general shortage, the Council may, acting unanimously on a proposal from the Commission and after consulting the European Parliament, amend the provisions of this Chapter. The Commission shall inquire into any request made by a Member State.
Seven years after 1 January 1958, the Council may confirm these provisions in their entirety. Failing confirmation, new provisions relating to the subject matter of this Chapter shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure laid down in the preceding paragraph.