Article 6 Issuing of licences

Member States shall notify the Commission not later than 19 December 2005 of the total quantity for which admissible licence applications have been lodged, giving separate figures for the operators referred to in Title II and those referred to in Title III.

In the light of the notifications under paragraph 1 and having regard to the quantity set in Article 2, the Commission shall, if appropriate, set reduction coefficients to be applied to each licence application in the case of the operators referred to in Title II and Title III respectively.

The competent authorities shall issue import licences, where appropriate applying the reduction coefficients referred to in paragraph 2.

Where, in cases in which paragraph 3 applies, the licence is issued for a quantity less than the quantity requested, the security referred to in Article 4(3) shall be released without delay for the quantity not awarded.