17. 5. 79 Official Journal of the European Communities No L 121/1 (Acts whose publication is obligatory) COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) No 954/79 of 15 May 1979 concerning the ratification by Member States of, or their accession to, the United Nations Convention on a Code of Conduct for Liner Conferences THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, and in particular Article 84 (2) thereof, Having regard to the draft Regulation submitted by the Commission, Having regard to the opinion of the European Parlia- ment (1), Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (?), Whereas a Convention on a Code of Conduct for Liner Conferences has been drawn up by a Confer- ence convened under the auspices of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and is open for ratification or accession ; Whereas the questions covered by the Code of Conduct are of importance not only to the Member States but also to the Community, in particular from the shipping and trading viewpoints, and it is there- fore important that a common position should be adopted in relation to this Code ; Whereas this common position should respect the principles and objectives of the Treaty and make a major contribution to meeting the aspirations of deve- loping countries in the field of shipping while at the same same time pursuing the objective of the contin- uing application in this field of the commercial princi- ples applied by shipping lines of the OECD countries and in trades between these countries ; Whereas to secure observance of these principles and objectives, since the Code of Conduct contains no provision allowing the accession of the Community as such, it is important that Member States ratify or (1) OJ No C 131, S. 6. 1978, p. 34. () OJ No C 269, 13. 11. 1978, p. 46. accede to the Code of Conduct subject to certain arran- gements provided for in this Regulation ; Whereas the stabilizing role of conferences in ensuring reliable services to shippers is recognized, but it is nevertheless necessary to avoid possible breaches by conferences of the rules of competition laid down in the Treaty; whereas the Commission will accordingly forward to the Council a proposal for a Regulation concerning the application of those rules to sea transport, HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION : Article 1 1. When ratifying the United Nations Convention on a Code of Conduct for Liner Conferences, or when acceding thereto, Member States shall inform the Secretary-General of the United Nations in writing that such ratification or accession has taken place in accordance with this Regulation. 2.  The instrument of ratification or accession shall be accompanied by the reservations set out in Annex I Article 2 1. In the case of an existing conference, each group of shipping lines of the same nationality which are members thereof shall determine by commercial nego- tiations with another shipping line of that nationality whether the latter may participate as a national ship- ping line in the said conference. If a new conference is created, the shipping lines of the same nationality shall determine by commercial negotiations which of them may participate as a national shipping line in the future conference.