English Translation

- 31 - IV. Summary . The customs union creates a close link between the economy of the Protectorate and the German economy and thus a strong political connection of the protectorate with the German Reich The abolition of the customs border is a political demand. It means economically an accelerated approximation of production conditions, prices and wages to those of the Reich. In import and export inevitable difficulties occur. The transition is greatly facilitated by the war economy. In the case of important consumer goods and foodstuffs, it enables the prices of the protectorate to be kept at a lower level in relation to the rich, as long as the production conditions of the individual economic sectors permit. On the other hand, the war economy requires cost and price increases regardless of the opening of the customs border. A prerequisite for the abolition is the implementation of the war management measures with the establishment of the market organization in agriculture and forestry, the market policy approximation in the field of the commercial economy, the introduction of the Reich tariff and all related legal and organizational measures and the construction of an intensive export promotion.