No L 159/44 Official Journal of the European Communities 10. 6. 82 COMMISSION DECISION of 17 May 1982 concerning the subsidizing of interest rates on credits for exports from France to Greece after the accession of that country to the European Economic Community (Only the French text is authentic) (82/364/EEC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, and in particular the first subparagraph of Article 93 (2) thereof, Having given notice in accordance with the above Article to the parties concerned to submit their comments, Whereas : On 1 January 1981, Greece became a Member of the European Economic Community. As from that date, the Treaty rules on State aids are applicable to Greece and in trade relations between the Nine and that country. Before that date, when financing exports of capital goods to Greece, the Member States could apply the credit conditions agreed upon internation- ally in the ‘Arrangement on guidelines for officially supported export credits’ (‘the consensus’) to which the European Economic Community became a party when the Council on 4 April 1978 adopted a Decision to that effect. That Decision is based on Article 113 of the Treaty and concerns credits for exports to third countries. The terms and interest rates agreed upon in the consensus vary according to the GNP per head of the recipient countries, which are divided accordingly into three categories : rich, intermediate and poor. ‘With the accession of Greece to the European Economic Community, which is a party to the consensus as such, Greece automatically changed its status from an ‘intermediate’ to a ‘rich’ country, to which slightly higher interest rates apply. Therefore all parties to the consensus had to notify the OECD, which acts as the secretariat for the consensus, prior commitments entered into in respect of export credit terms for sales of capital goods to Greece, the contracts for which were being negotiated and had not yet been concluded. The position created by Greek accession was discussed several times (") in the Policy Coordination Group for Credit Insurance, Credit Guarantees and Financial Credits (‘Export Credit Insurance Group)) of the Council whose competence is exclusively in the field of export credits in relation to third countries (3. At the Group’s meeting of 13 March 1980, Commission representatives explained that Article 92 of the Treaty would apply in relations to Greece as from 1 January 1981. No problems would arise as to transactions concluded and executed before that date. In respect of prior commitments in the form of offers made as part of the negotiations for contracts pending at the date of accession, one could imagine that the Commission, when assessing such cases, would apply a bona fide criterion. At the meeting of the Export Credit Insurance Group on 11 November 1980 it became evident that, while two Member States had taken steps to ensure that there were no commitments beyond the deadline of 31 December 1980, other Member States had entered into prior commitments going beyond that date. A compromise formula to the effect that Article 92 would not be formally implemented in respect of contracts signed before 28 February 1981 was en- visaged but not pursued in view of the position of France, which considered this period too short. Finally, when the Group during its meeting on 11 December 1980 noted that differences of opinion which had arisen still subsisted, the Commission representative stated ‘that the Commission’s depart- ments reserved the right, pursuant to Article 92 and Article 93 of the Treaty, to examine commitments concluded after 1 January 1981 on a case by case basis’ (%). When on 23 February 1981 the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany submitted to the Commission a request for a derogation in respect of contracts for an electricity generating station on the (") 5921/80, CCG 18 of 25 March 1980, 11248/80, CCG 56 of 17 November 1980. () Mandate of the Group (OJ No 66, 27. 10. 1960, p. 1339/ 60). (%) See 12461/80, CCG 75 of 16 December 1980.