Judgment_paragraph 2. · Wünsche Handelsgesellschaft v Federal Republic of Germany (126/81)

2.Article 1 of Regulation No 2107/74, as amended by Commission Regulation No 1869/75 of 22 July 1975 (Official Journal 1975, L 190, p. 23) provides for 1976 that the import of preserved mushrooms shall be subject to the submission of an import licence, for which application must be made before the beginning of the quarter to which it relates.Under Article 3 of the same regulation, the Commission reserves the power to limit imports to a fixed percentage of a reference quantity, having regard to the evolution of the situation on the market:(1) The Commission shall lay down the quantities of products for which the licences are issued by fixing a percentage to be applied to the reference quantity laid down each month for each particular applicant.This reference quantity shall be equal to:The quantity of preserved mushrooms imponed by the Community in 1973 during each month specified in the application The percentage in question was fixed by Commission Regulations Nos 1412/76 and 2284/76 of 18 June and 21 September 1976 fixing for purposes of application of the systems of import licences for preserved mushrooms the percentage applicable to the reference quantity (Official Journal 1976, L 158, p. 37 and L 258, p. 5), at 70% of the reference quantity for imports in the course of the third quarter of 1976, and at 100% for imports in the course of the fourth quarter of 1976. In the second quarter of 1976, the percentage had been 55%, and in the first quarter of the same year it had been 40%.”In its Regulation No 3096/76 of 17 December 1976 (Official Journal 1976, L 348, p. 26), the Commission then definitively repealed Regulation No 2107/74 with effect from 1 January 1977.The last two recitals in the preamble to Regulation No 1412/76 are worded as follows:“... the application of the protective measures under the conditions defined in the said regulations had led, in the case of cultivated mushrooms, to a certain recovery in the prices of Community and third country products and to a marked decrease within the Community;... in this situation the percentage applicable to the reference quantity for imports of preserved cultivated mushrooms from third countries should be increased while ensuring that the Community market does not undergo serious disturbances due to these imports”.The direct legal basis of the contested Regulation No 2107/74 is Regulation No 1427/71 of the Council of 2 July 1971 introducing protective measures for products processed from fruit and vegetables (Official Journal, English Special Edition 1971 (II), p. 468). It was replaced by Regulation No 1927/75 of the Council of 22 July 1975 concerning the system of trade with third countries in the market and products processed from fruit and vegetables (Official Journal 1975. L 198, p. 7). Article 7 (1) thereof reproduces the basic rules contained in Regulation No 1427/71 on the introduction of protective measures:(1) If, by reason of imports or exports, the Community market in one or more of the products specified in Article 1 (1) is or is likely to be exposed to serious disturbances which might endanger the objectives set out in Article 39 of the Treaty, appropriate measures may be applied in trade with third countries until such disturbances or the threat has ceased.The Council, acting on a proposal from the Commission in accordance with the voting procedure laid down in Article 43 (2) of the Treaty, shall adopt rules for the application of this paragraph and shall define the cases and the limits within which Member States may take protective measures”.