14.6.93 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities NoC161/15
OpinionontheproposalforaCouncilRegulation (EEC)replacingRegulation (EEC)
No1468/81onmutualassistancebetweentheadministrative authoritiesoftheMemberStates
andcooperationbetweenthelatterandtheCommissiontoensurethecorrectapplicationof
thelawoncustomsoragriculturalmatters(*)
(93/C161/05)
On5February1993theCouncildecidedtoconsulttheEconomicandSocialCommittee,
underArticle198oftheTreatyestablishingtheEuropeanEconomicCommunity ,onthe
abovementioned proposal.
TheSectionforAgricultureandFisheries,whichwasresponsibleforpreparingtheCom­
mittee'sworkonthesubject,adopteditsOpinionon1April1993.TheRapporteurwas
MrPricolo.
Atits305thPlenarySession(meetingof28April1993),theEconomicandSocialCommittee
unanimouslyadoptedthefollowingOpinion.
1.Introduction
1.1.EversincethefirstECagriculturallegislation
wasintroducedinthe1960s,ithasbeenrecognizedthat
nationaladministrative proceduresandthoseofthe
Commissionneedtobecoordinatedtoensurethepro­
perapplicationof(a)ECprovisionsgoverningtradein
agriculturalproducts,bothwithintheECandwith
thirdcountries,and(b)theEuropeanAgricultural
GuidanceandGuaranteeFund(EAGGF)aidscheduled
underthecommonmarketorganizations .
1.2.Eventhentheproblemarose—albeitonamore
limitedscalethantoday—ofcooperationbetween
nationalauthoritiesandtheCommission inorderto
prevent,detectandpunishanyirregularities ,abuseor
fraudcommittedatECexpenseinthecourseofcustoms
operationsoruseofthevariousformsofCommon
AgriculturalPolicy(CAP)support.operationofthecustomsunionandtheimplementation
oftheCAP,andtakingaccountofthecompletionof
theinternalmarketon1January1993.
1.5.Thekeynewelementsintheproposalconcern:
a)moreeffectiveandextensivepresenceofCom­
missionofficialsinadministrative cooperationwith
theMemberStates,whilerespectingtheirreciprocal
responsibilities ;
b)obligingtheMemberStates,whenalegalenquiry
hasbeenlaunched,toinformtheapplicantauthority
(Commission/MemberState)ofthedetailsofany
fraudcommittedtothedetrimentoftheCom­
munity,unlessthecompetentlegalauthority
opposesthis;
c)theCommission'spowertoconcludeadministrative
cooperationandinvestigationagreementswiththird
countries;
d)givingMemberStatestheoptionofusingfindings,
informationanddocumentsacquiredfromthe
authoritiesofanotherMemberState,oracquired
inthecourseofCommunitymissionsinthird
countries;
e)thesetting-upofacentraldatabase(theCustoms
InformationSystem,orCIS)bringingtogetherall
theinformationfromMemberStatesandfromthe
Commission ,sothatsuchinformationwillbe
directlyaccessibletocustomsofficesthroughoutthe
EC.1.3.Itwasnotuntil1967thatMemberStatescon­
cludedagreementsonmutualassistancebetweencus­
tomsauthorities (RomeConventionof7September
1967).PressuretoadoptEClegislationonthesubject
borefruiton19May1981withtheadoptionofCouncil
Regulation (EEC)No1468/81.ThisRegulationstill
providesthelegalframeworkforcooperationbetween
MemberStatesandbetweenthemandtheCommission
inallmattersconnectedwiththeimplementation of
CAPrules,theCommonCustomsTariff(CCT),and
othercustomsregulations .
1.4.ThedraftRegulationnowpresentedbythe
CommissionupdatesandsupplementsRegulation
(EEC)No1468/81inthelightofexperienceinthe2.Generalcomments
2.1.TheCommitteeendorsestheaimsofthepro­
posal—toensureclosercooperationandmoreefficient
coordination betweentheCommissionandtheMember(i)OJNoC56,26.2.1993,p.1.

NoC161/16 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities 14.6.93
3.Specificcomments Statesinorderfirstandforemosttoprevent,andsec­
ondlytocurb,thewidevarietyoffraudsperpetrated
inthecustomsandagriculturalfield.
Onthebasisoftheabove,andwhilelargelyendorsing
theproposedRegulation,theCommitteewoulddraw
theCommission'sandCouncil'sattentiontothefollow­
ingpointsandrecommendations .2.2.Theneedismadeparticularlypressingbythe
factthatfraud—especiallyintheagriculturesector—
ismadepossiblebythecomplex,intricateandconvol­
utednatureofCommunitylegislation,theextreme
diversityofwhichprovidesscopeforevasionandillicit
appropriationofEAGGFfunds.3.1.Relationbetweenadministrative assistanceand
legalenquiry
2.3.TheCommitteewouldheretaketheopportunity
tourgetheCommissiontolookintowaysofsimplifying
themechanismsandproceduresforgrantingaidunder
theagriculturalmarketorganizations .3.1.1.ThepresentwordingofArticle3raisesdoubts
astoitsconformitywiththeprinciplesofthenational
legalsystems.
2.3.1.Firstly,mechanismsshouldbemadesimple
andclearsothattheyareeasyforuserstounderstand
andequallyeasytoadminister .Thiswouldmakecon­
trolsswifterandmoreeffectivetoo.3.1.2.TheobligationtoinformtheCommissionand
theotherMemberStatesoftheinformationobtained
inalegalenquiryappearstoclashwiththelegalautho­
rity'sobligationtoexercisesecrecywhileinvestigating
thecaseandestablishingthefacts.
2.4.Withthecompletionoftheinternalmarketand
theabolitionofbordercontrolswithintheEC,fraud
isbecomingmorecomplex,sophisticatedandorches­
trated.Henceitislessandlessanindividualactivity
andincreasinglythepreserveofinternationalorganized
crime.3.1.3.Thepenalactionwhichfollowsthenotifi­
cationofacrimeisdesignedtoestablishwhetherand
bywhomanoffencehasbeencommitted .Atthisstage,
secrecymustbeinviolable.Itisthuspointlesstomake
theobligationtoprovideinformationconditionalon
thecompetentauthorities'notopposing'or'permitting'
it,astheyhavenodiscretioninthematter.
3.1.4.Thequestionofwhethersuchanobligationis
precededbyarequestforadministrative assistanceis
irrelevant.Administrative assistanceandlegalenquiries
areseparateandindependentprocesses,evenifthey
concernthesamesubjectandpersons.2.5.Further,theriseinvariousformsoftrafficking,
whichposesaseriousthreattohealth,moralsandlaw
andorder,bringsaneedformoreandmoredirect
contactbetweencustomsservices,quickerandmore
systematicexchangeofinformation ,andspecialsurveil­
lanceofpeopleandgoods.
3.1.5.IntheCommittee'sview,apragmaticsolution
shouldbedevisedatadministrative level,usingmore
bindingformsofcooperationbetweenthenational
authorities,andbetweenthemandtheCommission ,
andinvolvingmorecloselythenationalbodiesrespon­
sibleforadministering EAGGFprovisions .2.6.TheCommitteethusfirmlybelievesthatMem­
berStatesshouldcooperatemoreclosely,bothwith
eachotherandwiththeCommission ,onthebasis
ofECprovisionsratherthanofagreementsbetween
MemberStates.
3.2.Legalweightoftheinformationandpaperspro­
videdtotheapplicantauthoritybytherequested
authority2.7.HowevertheCommitteeisconcernedaboutcer­
tainaspectsoftheproposal,suchastherelation
betweenECprovisionsandnationallegislation,and
betweentheseprovisionsandtheindividual'srightto
privacy.Thesearehighlysensitiveissues,andthefight
againstfraudmuststrikeabalancebetweennational
interestandCommunityinterest,alwaysguaranteeing
respectforindividualrights.3.2.1.Incasesofassistanceonrequest(art.11),
spontaneousassistance(art.15)andtheuseoffindings
andinformationprovidedbythirdcountries(art.21),

14.6.93 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities NoC161/17
thequestionarisesofwhatlegalweightcanandshould
beaccordedtofindingsorinformationgarneredoutside
thecountrywheretheyaretobeused.
3.2.2.Theproposalmerelystressesthatsuchinfor­
mationcannotbeaccorded'lesserweight'thanthat
accordeditbythecountryoforigin.
3.2.3.TheCommitteefeelsthatcriteriashouldbe
laiddownforcategorizingandthusdifferentiating the
varioustypesofproof,asinformationsentfromone
countrytoanothermaynotalwayscarrylegalweight
inthelatter.
3.2.4.Informationalonemostcertainlydoesnotcar­
rythisweightunlessitreferstoeventsascertained
duringlegalproceedingsorofficiallyestablishedinthe
courseofanadministrative enquiry.Thesameistrue
ofpreliminaryfindings,asonlyestablishedfactscanbe
usedtoarriveatdefiniteconclusions .
3.2.5.Documentaryproofsuchaspublicpapers,pri­
vatecorrespondence orcourtrulingsdefinitelyconsti­
tuteformsofproofandarethereforeadmissibleany­
where,asisevidencetakenduringthetrial,suchas
witnessstatements,confessionsorswornstatements .
3.3.Co-existenceofthefutureCustomsInformation
System(CIS)andthesystemtobesetupundera
conventionbetweenMemberStatesontheuseof
informationtechnologyinthecustomssector
3.3.1.TheCommitteewelcomestheintentiontoset
uptheCIScentraldatabase,inputtingdatafromter­
minalsintheMemberStatesandattheCommission so
astofacilitateenquiriesintoandascertainment of
breachesofcustomsoragriculturalregulations,other
thanEAGGFoperations .3.3.2.However,giventhattheCIScomesunderEC
responsibilitywhiletheothersystemisunderthecon­
troloftheMemberStates,theCommitteethinksthat
theRegulationshouldcontainprovisionstoensurethat
thetwosystemsdonotclashandcanoperateinparallel.
3.4.Theindividual'srighttoprivacy
3.4.1.Lastly,theCommitteenotesthattheestablish­
mentoftheCIS,whichwillincludepersonaldata,could
raiseadelicatelegalproblemasregardstheprotection
ofthesedata.
3.4.2.TheproposedDirectiveontheprotectionof
personaldatahasnotyetbeenadoptedandtheCouncil
ofEurope'sStrasbourgConventionof28January1981,
towhichreferencecouldbemadeasregardstheauto­
maticprocessingofpersonaldata,hasonlybeenratified
bysevenMemberStates.
3.4.3.ThereisadangerthatthepresentdraftRegu­
lationcouldbeapprovedbeforetheDirective,thus
creatingalegalvacuuminthisdelicatearea.
3.4.4.Whileitisnecessarytosetupadatabasewhich
canelectronicallyprocessamassofinformationon
individuals,basicallycreatingapersonalindexfile,it
isimportantthataccesstothesedataandthe'power
ofinformation'isreconciled,usingappropriaterules,
withtheneedtosafeguardtheindividual'srightto
privacy.
3.4.5.TheCommitteethereforeaskstheCouncilto
adopttheRegulationandDirectiveatthesametime,
toprovideawatertightlegalframeworkfortheright
toprivacy.
DoneatBrussels,28April1993.
TheChairman
oftheEconomicandSocialCommittee
SusanneTIEMANN