A4-0486/98

Decision on common position (EC) No 46/98 adopted by the Council with a view to the adoption of a European Parliament and Council Regulation amending Council Regulation (EEC) No 3330/91 on the statistics relating to the trading of goods between Member States with a view to reducing the data to be provided (C4-0492/98 - 97/0155(COD))(Codecision procedure: second reading)

The European Parliament,

- having regard to common position (EC) No 46/98 of the Council, C4-0492/98 - 97/0155(COD) ((OJ C 285, 14.9.1998, p. 1.)),

- having regard to its opinion at first reading ((OJ C 138, 4.5.1998, p. 89.)) on the Commission proposal to Parliament and the Council, COM(97)0252 ((OJ C 203, 3.7.1997, p. 10.)),

- having regard to the amended Commission proposal, COM(98)0270 ((OJ C 171, 5.6.1998, p. 12.)),

- having regard to Article 189b(2) of the EC Treaty,

- having regard to Rule 72 of its Rules of Procedure,

- having regard to the recommendation for second reading of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs and Industrial Policy (A4-0486/98),

1. Amends the common position as follows;

2. Calls on the Commission to support Parliament's amendments in the opinion it is required to deliver pursuant to Article 189b(2)(d) of the EC Treaty;

3. Calls on the Council to approve all Parliament's amendments, amend its common position accordingly and definitively adopt the act;

4. Instructs its President to forward this decision to the Council and the Commission.

(Amendment 1)

Recital 3a (new)

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Whereas the simplified use of the Combined Nomenclature for Intrastat purposes, together with the availability to information providers of tools facilitating the classification of goods, is one such proposal, since information providers generally regard the classification of products in the Combined Nomenclature as difficult;

(Amendment 2)

Recital 3b (new)

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Whereas the simplification of the Combined Nomenclature has been proposed as a pilot project as part of the second phase of the SLIM initiative(1);

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(1) SEC(97)0951.

(Amendment 3)

Recital 3c (new)

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Whereas, therefore, there is a need to simplify the use of this nomenclature while preserving a single nomenclature for the trading of goods within the single market and with non-member countries which is compatible with other statistical classifications;

(Amendment 4)

Recital 5

>Original text>

Whereas deletion of the mode of transport and the delivery terms is one of these simplification measures; whereas, however, reporting of the country of origin, the region of origin and/or the region of destination as well as of the statistical procedure is of particular benefit to many users and should therefore be retained;

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Whereas deletion of the mode of transport and the delivery terms is one of these simplification measures;

(Amendment 5)

Recital 6

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Whereas it is necessary for certain Member States to require reporting of delivery terms and the presumed mode of transport; whereas, however, it is desirable, after consultation in the Committee on Statistics, to set thresholds below which Member States may not prescribe such statistical data, in order to avoid a disproportionate burden for small and medium-sized undertakings;

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Whereas certain Member States

may wish to have reports other than those needed for information forming part of the Community statistical system; whereas, however, it is desirable for thresholds below which Member States may not prescribe such statistical data to be set in accordance with Article 30 of Regulation (EEC) No 3330/91, in order to avoid a disproportionate burden for small and medium-sized undertakings;

(Amendment 6)

Recital 8

>Original text>

Whereas such simplification may cause practical difficulties for certain national administrations; whereas it is necessary to confer on the Commission, acting in accordance with Article 30 of Regulation (EEC) No 3330/91, the power to grant derogations to individual Member States allowing them to defer the application of this Regulation for a transitional period of up to two years;

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Deleted

(Amendment 8)

ARTICLE 1(1a) (new)

Article 21(1) to (5) (Regulation (EEC) No 3330/91)

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1a. Article 21(1) to (5) shall be replaced by the following:

"1. On the statistical medium to be transmitted to the competent authorities, goods shall be identified by the subheadings of the current version of the Combined Nomenclature.

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2. However, in accordance with the detailed procedures set out in paragraph 3, providers of statistical information may, in the interests of reducing their statistical burden, limit themselves to using the Harmonised System nomenclature to identify certain goods.

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3. The arrangements for the application of paragraph 2, and any other technical measures intended to facilitate the classification of goods for statistics relating to the trading of goods between Member States, shall be adopted by the Commission in accordance with Article 30, account being taken of the results of the work of a group composed of representatives of the providers and users of statistical information on the trading of goods.

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4. The operational procedures of this group shall be adopted by the Commission in accordance with Article 30."

(Amendment 7)

ARTICLE 1(2)(b) and (c)

Article 23(2) and new (3) (Regulation (EEC) No 3330/91)

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(b) paragraph 2 shall be replaced by the following:

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(b)

paragraph 2 shall be replaced by the following:

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"2. In the case of providers of statistical information whose annual value of arrivals or dispatches falls below the thresholds fixed by the Commission in accordance with the procedure established under Article 30, it shall not be prescribed that data other than those listed in paragraph 1 be provided for such arrivals or dispatches on the statistical data medium.

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"2. Member States may prescribe that the following additional data be provided on the statistical data medium:

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Apart from the data provided for in paragraph 1, Member States may, solely in respect of providers of statistical information with dispatches or arrivals of an annual value in excess of the above thresholds, prescribe that the following additional data be provided on the statistical data medium:

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(a) in the Member States of arrival, the country of origin; however, that information may only be prescribed within the limits of Community law;

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(a)

in the Member States of arrival, the country of origin; however, that information may only be prescribed within the limits of Community law;

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(b) in the Member State of dispatch, the region of origin; in the Member State of arrival, the region of destination;

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(b)

in the Member State of dispatch, the region of origin; in the Member State of arrival, the region of destination.¨

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(c) where appropriate, the statistical procedure."

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(c) paragraph 3 becomes paragraph 4 and the following new paragraph 3 shall be inserted:

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Deleted

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"3. In the case of providers of statistical information whose annual value of arrivals or of dispatches falls below the thresholds fixed by the Member States after consultation in the Committee set up under Article 29, it shall not be prescribed that data other than those listed in paragraphs 1 and 2 be provided for such arrivals or dispatches on the statistical data medium.

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Deleted

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Member States may require other providers of statistical information to supply the following additional data:

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(a) the delivery terms;

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(b) the presumed mode of transport;¨

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(Amendment 9)

Article 2

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Article 2

Where significant changes are required in national statistical systems, the Commission may, acting in accordance with the procedure set out in Article 30 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 3330/91, grant derogations to individual Member States allowing them to defer the application of this Regulation for a transitional period of up to two years.

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