1976L0308 — EN — 01.05.2004 — 007.001 — 1
This document is meant purely as a documentation tool and the institutions do not assume any liability for its contents
►B ►M4 COUNCILDIRECTIVE
of15March1976
on mutual assistance for the recovery of claims relating to certain levies, duties, taxes and other
measures
(76/308/EEC) ◄
(OJ L 73, 19.3.1976, p. 18)
Amended by:
Official Journal
No page date
►M1 Council Directive 79/1071/EEC of 6 December 1979 L 331 10 27.12.1979
►M2 Council Directive 92/12/EEC of 25 February 1992 L 76 1 23.3.1992
►M3 amended by Council Directive 92/108/EEC of 14 December 1992 L 390 124 31.12.1992
►M4 Council Directive 2001/44/EC of 15 June 2001 L 175 17 28.6.2001
Amended by:
►A1 Actof Accession of Greece L 291 17 19.11.1979
►A2 Actof Accession of Spain and Port ugal L 302 23 15.11.1985
►A3 Actof Accession of Aust ria, Sweden and Finland C 241 21 29.8.1994
(adapted by Council Decision 95/1/EC, Euratom, ECSC) L 1 1 1.1.1995
►A4 Act concerning the conditions of accession of the Czech Republic, the
Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Cyprus, the Republic of Latvia,the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic ofMalta, the Republic of Poland, the Republic of Slovenia and the Slovak
Republic and the adjustments to the Treaties on which the European
Union is foundedL 236 33 23.9.2003
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►M4 COUNCILDIRECTIVE
of15March1976
on mutual assistance for the recovery of claims relating to certain
levies,duties,taxesandothermeasures
(76/308/EEC) ◄
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic
Community, and in particular Article 100 thereof,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 729/70 of 21 April
1970 on the financing of the common agricultural policy (1), as last
amended by Regulation (EEC) No 2788/72 (2), and in particular Article
8 (3) thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament (
3),
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social
Committee (4),
Whereas it is not at present possible to enforce in one Member State a
claim for recovery substantiated by a document drawn up by the autho-
rities of another Member State;
Whereas the fact that national provisions relating to recovery are
applicable only within national territories is in itself an obstacle to theestablishment and functioning of the common market; whereas thissituation prevents Community rules from being fully and fairly applied,particularly in the area of the common agricultural policy, and facili-
tates fraudulent operations;
Whereas it is therefore necessary to adopt common rules on mutual
assistance for recovery;
Whereas these rules must apply both to the recovery of claims resulting
from the various measures which form part of the system of total orpartial financing of the European Agricultural Guidance and GuaranteeFund and to the recovery of agricultural levies and customs dutieswithin the meaning of Article 2 of Decision 70/243/ECSC, EEC,
Euratom of 21 April 1970 on the replacement of financial contributions
from Member States by the Communities' own resources (
5), and of
Article 128 of the Act of Accession; whereas they must also apply tothe recovery of interest and costs incidental to such claims;
Whereas mutual assistance must consist of the following: the requested
authority must on the one hand supply the applicant authority with the
information which the latter needs in order to recover claims arising in
the Member State in which it is situated and notify the debtor of allinstruments relating to such claims emanating from that Member State,and on the other hand it must recover, at the request of the applicantauthority, the claims arising in the Member State in which the latter issituated;
Whereas these different forms of assistance must be afforded by the
requested authority in compliance with the laws, regulations andadministrative provisions governing such matters in the Member Statein which it is situated;
Whereas it is necessary to lay down the conditions in accordance with
which requests for assistance must be drawn up by the applicantauthority and to give a limitative definition of the particular circum-1976L0308 — EN — 01.05.2004 — 007.001 — 2
(1) OJ No L 94, 28. 4. 1970, p. 13.
(2) OJ No L 295, 30. 12. 1972, p. 1.
(3) OJ No C 19, 12. 4. 1973, p. 38.
(4) OJ No C 69, 28. 8. 1973, p. 3.
(5) OJ No L 94, 28. 4. 1970, p. 19.
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stances in which the requested authority may refuse assistance in any
given case;
Whereas when the requested authority is required to act on behalf of
the applicant authority to recover a claim, it must be able, if the provi-
sions in force in the Member State in which it is situated so permit and
with the agreement of the applicant authority, to allow the debtor timeto pay or authorize payment by instalment; whereas any interestcharged on such payment facilities must also be remitted to theMember State in which the applicant authority is situated;
Whereas, upon a reasoned request from the applicant authority, the
requested authority must also be able, in so far as the provisions in
force in the Member State in which it is situated so permit, to take
precautionary measures to guarantee the recovery of claims arising inthe applicant Member State; whereas such claims must not howeverbe given any preferential treatment in the Member State in which therequested authority is situated;
Whereas it is possible that during the recovery procedure in the
Member State in which the requested authority is situated the claim orthe instrument authorizing its enforcement issued in the Member State
in which the applicant authority is situated may be contested by the
person concerned; whereas itshould be laid down in such cases t hatthe person concerned must bring the action contesting the claim beforethe competent body of the Member State in which the applicantauthority is situated and that the requested authority must suspend any
enforcement proceedings which it has begun until a decision is taken
by the aforementioned body;
Whereas it should be laid down that documents and information
communicated in the course of mutual assistance for recovery maynotbe used for ot her purposes;
Whereas this Directive should not curtail mutual assistance between
particular Member States under bilateral or multilateral agreements orarrangements;
Whereas it is necessary to ensure that mutual assistance functions
smoothly and to this end to lay down a Community procedure fordetermining the detailed rules for the application of such assistance
within an appropriate period; whereas it is necessary to set up a
committee to organize close and effective collaboration between theMember States and the Commission in this area,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:
Article 1
This Directive lays down the rules to be incorporated into the laws,
regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States toensure the recovery in each Member State of the claims referred to inArticle 2 which arise in another Member State.
Article 2
This Directive shall apply to all claims relating to:
(a) refunds, interventions and other measures forming part of the
system of total or partial financing of the European AgriculturalGuidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF), including sums to becollected in connection with these actions;
(b) levies and other duties provided for under the common organisation
of the market for the sugar sector;
(c) importdut ies;
(d) exportdut ies;
(e) value added tax;1976L0308 — EN — 01.05.2004 — 007.001 — 3
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(f) excise duties on:
— manufactured tobacco,
— alcohol and alcoholic beverages,
— mineral oils;
(g) taxes on income and capital;
(h) taxes on insurance premiums;
(i) interest, administrative penalties and fines, and costs incidental to
the claims referred to in points (a) to (h), with the exclusion of
any sanction of a criminal nature as determined by the laws inforce in the Member State in which the requested authority is situ-ated.
Article 3
In this Directive:
— ‘applicant authority’ means the competent authority of a Member
State which makes a request for assistance concerning a claimreferred to in Article 2;
— ‘requested authority’ means the competent authority of a Member
State to which a request for assistance is made;
— ‘import duties’ means customs duties and charges having equivalent
effect on imports, and import charges laid down within the frame-work of the common agricultural policy or in that of specificarrangements applicable to certain goods resulting from the proces-
sing of agricultural products;
— ‘export duties’ means customs duties and charges having equivalent
effect on exports, and export charges laid down within the frame-
work of the common agricultural policy or in that of specific
arrangements applicable to certain goods resulting from the proces-sing of agricultural products;
— ‘taxes on income and capital’ means those enumerated in Article
1(3) of Directive 77/799/EEC (
1), read in conjunction with Article
1(4) of that Directive;
— ‘taxes on insurance premiums’ means:
in Austria: (i) Versicherungssteuer
(ii) Feuerschutzsteuer
in Belgium: (i) Taxe annuelle sur les contrats
d'assurance
(ii) Jaarlijkse taks op de verzekerings-
contracten
in Germany: (i) Versicherungssteuer
(ii) Feuerschutzsteuer
in Denmark: (i) Afgift af lystfartøjsforsikringer
(ii) Afgiftaf ansvarsforsikringer for
motorkøretøjer m.v.
(iii) Stempelafgift af forsikringspræ-
mier
in Spain: Impuesto sobre la prima de segurosin Greece: (i) Φòρος κύκλου εργασιών
(Φ.Κ.Ε)
(ii)Τέλη Χαρτοσήµου
in France: Taxe sur les conventions d'assurances1976L0308 — EN — 01.05.2004 — 007.001 — 4
(1) Council Directive 77/799/EEC of 19 December 1977 concerning mutual
assistance by the competent authorities of the Member States in the field
of direct taxation (OJ L 336, 27.12.1977, p. 15). Directive as last amended
by the 1994 Act of Accession.▼B
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in Finland: (i) Eräistä vakuutusmaksuista suoritet-
tava vero/skatt på vissa försäkring-spremier
(ii) Palosuojelumaksu/brandskyddsav-
gift
in Italy: Imposte sulle assicurazioni private ed i
contratti vitalizi di cui alla legge29.10.1967 No 1216
in Ireland: levy on insurance premiumsin Luxembourg: (i) Impôtsur les assurances
(ii) Impôtdans l'int erêtdu service
d'incendie
in the Netherlands: Assurantiebelastingin Portugal: Imposto de selo sobre os prémios de
seguros
in Sweden: nonein the United Kingdom: insurance premium tax (IPT)
in Malta: Taxxa fuq Dokumenti u Trasferimenti
in Slovenia: (i) davek od prometa zavarovalnih
poslov
(ii)požarna taksa .
This Directive shall also apply to claims relating to identical or
analogous taxes which supplement or replace the taxes on insurance
premiums referred to in the sixth indent. The competent authorities
of the Member States shall communicate to each other and to theCommission the dates of entry into force of such taxes.
Article 4
1. At the request of the applicant authority, the requested authority
shall provide any information which would be useful to the applicant
authority in the recovery of its claim.
In order to obtain this information, the requested authority shall make
use of the powers provided under the laws, regulations or administra-
tive provisions applying to the recovery of similar claims arising inthe Member State where that authority is situated.
2. The request for information shall indicate ►
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address and any other relevant information relating to the identificationto which the applicant authority normally has access ◄of the person
to whom the information to be provided relates and the nature andamount of the claim in respect of which the request is made.
3. The requested authority shall not be obliged to supply informa-
tion:
(a) which it would not be able to obtain for the purpose of recovering
similar claims arising in the Member State in which it is situated;
(b) which would disclose any commercial, industrial or professional
secrets; or
(c) the disclosure of which would be liable to prejudice the security of
or be contrary to the public policy of the State.
4. The requested authority shall inform the applicant authority of the
grounds for refusing a requestfor informat ion.1976L0308 — EN — 01.05.2004 — 007.001 — 5
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Article 5
1. The requested authority shall, at the request of the applicant
authority, and in accordance with the rules of law in force for the noti-
fication of similar instruments or decisions in the Member State in
which the requested authority is situated, notify to the addressee allinstruments and decisions, including those of a judicial nature, whichemanate from the Member State in which the applicant authority issituated and which relate to a claim and/or to its recovery.
2. The request for notification shall indicate ►
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address and any other relevant information relating to the identification
to which the applicant authority normally has access ◄of the
addressee concerned, the nature and the subject of the instrument ordecision to be notified, if necessary ►
M4the name, address and any
other relevant information relating to the identification to which theapplicant authority normally has access ◄of the debtor and the claim
to which the instrument or decision relates, and any other useful infor-
mation.
3. The requested authority shall promptly inform the applicant
authority of the action taken on its request for notification and, moreespecially, of the date on which the instrument or decision wasforwarded to the addressee.
Article 6
1. At the request of the applicant authority, the requested authority
shall, in accordance with the laws, regulations or administrative provi-
sions applying to the recovery of similar claims arising in the Member
State in which the requested authority is situated, recover claims whichare the subject of an instrument permitting their enforcement.
2. For this purpose any claim in respect of which a request for
recovery has been made shall be treated as a claim of the MemberState in which the requested authority is situated, except where Article
12 applies.
Article 7
1. The request for recovery of a claim which the applicant authority
addresses to the requested authority must be accompanied by an offi-cial or certified copy of the instrument permitting its enforcement,issued in the Member State in which the applicant authority is situatedand, if appropriate, by the original or a certified copy of other docu-
ments necessary for recovery.
2. The applicant authority may not make a request for recovery
unless:
(a) the claim and/or the instrument permitting its enforcement are not
contested in the Member State in which it is situated, except incases where the second subparagraph of Article 12(2) is applied,
(b) it has, in the Member State in which it is situated, applied appro-
priate recovery procedures available to it on the basis of theinstrument referred to in paragraph 1, and the measures taken willnot result in the payment in full of the claim.
3. The requestfor recovery shall indicat e:
(a) the name, address and any other relevant information relating to the
identification of the person concerned and/or to the third party
holding his or her assets;
(b) the name, address and any other relevant information relating to the
identification of the applicant authority;
(c) a reference to the instrument permitting its enforcement issued in
the Member State in which the applicant authority is situated;
(d) the nature and the amount of the claim, including the principal, the
interest, and any other penalties, fines and costs due indicated in1976L0308 — EN — 01.05.2004 — 007.001 — 6
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the currencies of the Member States in which both authorities are
situated;
(e) the date of notification of the instrument to the addressee by the
applicant authority and/or by the requested authority;
(f) the date from which and the period during which enforcement is
possible under the laws in force in the Member State in which theapplicant authority is situated;
(g) any other relevant information.
4. The request for recovery shall also contain a declaration by the
applicant authority confirming that the conditions set out in paragraph2 have been fulfilled.
5. As soon as any relevant information relating to the matter which
gave rise to the request for recovery comes to the knowledge of the
applicant authority it shall forward it to the requested authority.
Article 8
1. The instrument permitting enforcement of the claim shall be
directly recognised and automatically treated as an instrument permit-ting enforcement of a claim of the Member State in which the
requested authority is situated.
2. Notwithstanding the first paragraph, the instrument permitting
enforcement of the claim may, where appropriate and in accordancewith the provisions in force in the Member State in which therequested authority is situated, be accepted as, recognised as, supple-
mented with, or replaced by an instrument authorising enforcement in
the territory of that Member State.
Within three months of the date of receipt of the request for recovery,
Member States shall endeavour to complete such acceptance, recogni-tion, supplementing or replacement, except in cases where the thirdsubparagraph is applied. They may not be refused if the instrument
permitting enforcement is properly drawn up. The requested authority
shall inform the applicant authority of the grounds for exceeding theperiod of three months.
If any of these formalities should give rise to contestation in connec-
tion with the claim and/or the instrument permitting enforcement
issued by the applicant authority, Article 12 shall apply.
Article 9
1. Claims shall be recovered in the currency of the Member State in
which the requested authority is situated. The entire amount of theclaim that is recovered by the requested authority shall be remitted bythe requested authority to the applicant authority.
2. The requested authority may, where the laws, regulations or
administrative provisions in force in the Member State in which it issituated so permit, and after consultations with the applicant authority,allow the debtor time to pay or authorise payment by instalment. Anyinterest charged by the requested authority in respect of such extra time
to pay shall also be remitted to the Member State in which the appli-
cant authority is situated.
From the date on which the instrument permitting enforcement of
recovery of the claim has been directly recognised or accepted, recog-nised, supplemented or replaced in accordance with Article 8, interestwill be charged for late payment under the laws, regulations and
administrative provisions in force in the Member State in which the
requested authority is situated and shall also be remitted to the MemberState in which the applicant authority is situated.
Article 10
Notwithstanding Article 6(2), the claims to be recovered shall not
necessarily benefit from the privileges accorded to similar claims1976L0308 — EN — 01.05.2004 — 007.001 — 7
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arising in the Member State in which the requested authority is situ-
ated.
Article 11
The requested authority shall inform the applicant authority immedi-
ately of the action it has taken on the request for recovery.
Article 12
1. If, in the course of the recovery procedure, the claim and/or the
instrument permitting its enforcement issued in the Member State inwhich the applicant authority is situated are contested by an interestedparty, the action shall be brought by the latter before the competentbody of the Member State in which the applicant authority is situated,
in accordance with the laws in force there. This action must be notified
by the applicant authority to the requested authority. The partyconcerned may also notify the requested authority of the action.
2. As soon as the requested authority has received the notification
referred to in paragraph 1 either from the applicant authority or fromthe interested party, it shall suspend the enforcement procedure pendingthe decision of the body competent in the matter ►
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applicant authority requests otherwise in accordance with the second
subparagraph ◄. Should the requested authority deem it necessary,
and without prejudice to Article 13, that authority may take precau-tionary measures to guarantee recovery in so far as the laws orregulations in force in the Member State in which it is situated allow
such action for similar claims.
Notwithstanding the first subparagraph of paragraph 2, the applicant
authority may in accordance with the law, regulations and administra-tive practices in force in the Member State in which it is situated,request the requested authority to recover a contested claim, in so far
as the relevant laws, regulations and administrative practices in force
in the Member State in which the requested authority is situated allowsuch action. If the result of contestation is subsequently favourable tothe debtor, the applicant authority shall be liable for the reimbursementof any sums recovered, together with any compensation due, in accor-dance with the laws in force in the Member State in which the
requested authority is situated.
3. Where it is the enforcement measures taken in the Member State
in which the requested authority is situated that are being contested theaction shall be brought before the competent body of that MemberState in accordance with its laws and regulations.
4. Where the competent body before which the action has been
brought in accordance with paragraph 1 is a judicial or administrative
tribunal, the decision of that tribunal, in so far as it is favourable to theapplicant authority and permits recovery of the claim in the MemberState in which the applicant authority is situated shall constitute the‘instrument permitting enforcement’ within the meaning of Articles 6,
7 and 8 and the recovery of the claim shall proceed on the basis of that
decision.
Article 13
On a reasoned request by the applicant authority, the requested
authority shall take precautionary measures to ensure recovery of aclaim in so far as the laws or regulations in force in the Member Statein which it is situated so permit.
In order to give effect to the provisions of the first paragraph, Articles
6, 7 (1), (3) and (5), 8, 11, 12 and 14 shall apply mutatis mutandis .1976L0308 — EN — 01.05.2004 — 007.001 — 8
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Article 14
The requested authority shall not be obliged:
(a) to grant the assistance provided for in Articles 6 to 13 if recovery
of the claim would, because of the situation of the debtor, create
serious economic or social difficulties in the Member State in
which that authority is situated, in so far as the laws, regulationsand administrative practices in force in the Member State in whichthe requested authority is situated allow such action for similarnational claims;
(b) to grant the assistance provided for in Articles 4 to 13, if the initial
request under Article 4, 5 or 6 applies to claims more than fiveyears old, dating from the moment the instrument permitting therecovery is established in accordance with the laws, regulations oradministrative practices in force in the Member State in which the
applicant authority is situated, to the date of the request. However,
in cases where the claim or the instrument is contested, the timelimit begins from the moment at which the applicant State estab-lishes that the claim or the enforcement order permitting recoverymay no longer be contested.
The requested authority shall inform the applicant authority of the
grounds for refusing a requestfor assist ance. Such reasoned refusalshall also be communicated to the Commission.
Article 15
1. Questions concerning periods of limitation shall be governed
solely by the laws in force in the Member State in which the applicantauthority is situated.
2. Steps taken in the recovery of claims by the requested authority
in pursuance of a request for assistance, which, if they had been carriedout by the applicant authority, would have had the effect of suspending
or interrupting the period of limitation according to the laws in force in
the Member State in which the applicant authority is situated, shall bedeemed to have been taken in the latter State, in so far as that effect isconcerned.
Article 16
Documents and information sent to the requested authority pursuant to
this Directive may only be communicated by the latter to:
(a) the person mentioned in the request for assistance;
(b) those persons and authorities responsible for the recovery of the
claims, and solely for that purpose;
(c) the judicial authorities dealing with matters concerning the
recovery of the claims.
Article 17
Requests for assistance ►
M4the instrument permitting the enforce-
ment and other relevant documents ◄shall be accompanied by a
translation in the official language, or one of the official languages of
the Member State in which the requested authority is situated, withoutprejudice to the latter authority's right to waive the translation.
Article 18
1. The requested authority shall recover from the person concerned
and retain any costs linked to recovery which it incurs, in accordancewith the laws and regulations of the Member State in which it is situ-ated that apply to similar claims.1976L0308 — EN — 01.05.2004 — 007.001 — 9
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2. Member States shall renounce all claims on each other for the
refund of costs resulting from mutual assistance which they grant eachother pursuant to this Directive.
3. Where recovery poses a specific problem, concerns a very large
amount in costs or relates to the fight against organised crime, theapplicant and requested authorities may agree reimbursement arrange-ments specific to the cases in question.
4. The Member State in which the applicant authority is situated
shall remain liable to the Member State in which the requestedauthority is situated for any costs and any losses incurred as a resultof actions held to be unfounded, as far as either the substance of the
claim or the validity of the instrument issued by the applicant authority
are concerned.
Article 19
Member States shall provide each other with a list of authorities
authorized to make or receive requests for assistance.
Article 20
1. The Commission shall be assisted by a recovery committee (here-
inafter referred to as ‘the Committee’), composed of representatives of
the Member States and chaired by the representative of the Commis-
sion.
2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Articles 5 and 7 of
Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply.
The period referred to in Article 5(6) of Decision 1999/468/EC shall be
set at three months.
3. The Committee shall adopt its own rules of procedure.
Article 21
The committee may examine any matter concerning the application of
this Directive raised by its chairman either on his own initiative or at
the request of the representative of a Member State.
Article 22
The detailed rules for implementing Articles 4(2) and (4), 5(2) and (3)
and Articles 7, 8, 9, 11, 12(1) and (2), 14, 18(3) and 25 and for deter-mining the means by which communications between the authoritiesmay be transmitted, the rules on conversion, transfer of sums recov-
ered, and the fixing of a minimum amount for claims which may give
rise to a request for assistance, shall be adopted in accordance with theprocedure laid down in Article 20(2).
Article 23
The provisions of this Directive shall not prevent a greater measure of
mutual assistance being afforded either now or in the future by parti-cular Member States under any agreements or arrangements, including
those for the notification of legal or extralegal acts.
Article 24
Member States shall bring into force the measures necessary to comply
with this Directive not later than 1 January 1978.1976L0308 — EN — 01.05.2004 — 007.001 — 10
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Article 25
Each Member State shall inform the Commission of the measures
which it has adopted to implement this Directive. The Commission
shall forward this information to the other Member States.
Each Member State shall inform the Commission annually of the
number of requests for information, notification and recovery sent andreceived each year, the amount of the claims involved and the amountsrecovered. The Commission shall report biennially to the EuropeanParliament and the Council on the use made of these arrangements
and on the results achieved.
Article 26
This Directive is addressed to the Member States.1976L0308 — EN — 01.05.2004 — 007.001 — 11
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