L 182/4 Official Journal of the European Union 21.6.2014 COUNCIL DECISION No 377/2014/EU of 12 June 2014 on the AIEM tax applicable in the Canary Islands THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 349 thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission, Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament, Acting in accordance with a special legislative procedure, Whereas: (1)  Pursuant to Article 349 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), the Council, taking into account the structural social and economic situation of the outermost regions, which is compounded by their remoteness, insularity, small size, difficult topography and climate, and economic dependence on a few products, adopts specific measures aimed, in particular, at laying down the conditions of application of the Treaties to those regions, including common policies. (2)  Specific measures should therefore be adopted in order to establish the conditions for applying the TFEU to those regions. Such measures are to take account of the special characteristics and constraints of those regions, without undermining the integrity and coherence of the Union legal order, including the internal market and common policies. (3)  The most significant handicap identified in the Canary Islands is the high dependence of their economy on the services sector, in particular tourism, together with the small share of industry in the Canary Islands’ GDP. (4)  Second to that is the isolation inherent in an archipelago which hinders the free movement of persons, goods and services. Dependence on certain modes of transport, air transport and maritime transport is increased, since those are modes of transport which have not yet been fully liberalised. Furthermore, production costs are greater because those modes of transport are less efficient and are more expensive than road or rail. (5)  As a further consequence of this isolation, higher production costs result from dependence in terms of raw ma- terials and energy, from the obligation to build up stocks and from difficulties affecting the supply of production equipment. (6)  The small size of the market and the low level of export activity, the geographical fragmentation of the archipe- lago, and the obligation to maintain diversified but small production lines in order to meet the requirements of a small market restrict the opportunities for economies of scale. (7) It is in many cases more difficult or more expensive to obtain specialised and maintenance services, and training for managers and technicians, or to subcontract or promote business expansion beyond the Canary Islands’ market. The narrow range of distribution methods also results in overstocking. (8)  As regards the environment, the disposal of industrial waste and the treatment of toxic waste give rise to higher environmental costs. Those costs are higher because there are no recycling plants, other than for certain products, and waste has to be transported to the mainland and toxic waste has to be treated outside the Canary Islands. (9)  On the basis of the above and of the notification from the Spanish authorities to the Commission on 4 March 2013, the authorisation concerning the application of a tax to a list of products for which exemptions for local products may be allowed should be renewed.