Proposal for a European Parliament and Council Decision amending the Decision of 19 December 1996 adopting an action programme for customs in the Community (Customs 2000) (98/C 396/07) COM(1998) 644 final - 98/0314(COD)

(Submitted by the Commission on 12 November 1998)

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 100a thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee,

(1) Whereas Decision No 210/97/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 December 1996 adopting an action programme for customs in the Community (Customs 2000) (1) established a common framework of objectives as the basis of Community action on customs matters to improve the efficiency and standardisation of customs operations within the internal market;

(2) Whereas the operation of information exchange systems at Community level has demonstrated the usefulness of computerised systems in ensuring the correct application of customs procedures throughout the customs territory of the Community and protecting the Community's own resources while minimising the administrative burden; whereas these systems have proved to be essential instruments of cooperation between the customs authorities of the European Union;

(3) Whereas communication and information exchange systems should be created to meet the future needs of customs systems in the interests of continued cooperation;

(4) Whereas a high level of training, of equivalent quality through the Community is needed to guarantee the success of this programme; whereas, in order to increase the consistency of Community work and make customs operations in the Community more uniform and efficient, vocational training for Member State customs officials along the lines of that instituted under the Matthaeus programme set up by Council Decision 91/341/EEC (2), should be developed within the Customs 2000 programme;

(5) Whereas, to coordinate Community action to assist national authorities in standardising and increasing the efficiency of their customs operations in the context of the internal market, it is essential to have a unified approach to the conduct of these operations;

(6) Whereas the best way of guaranteeing this unified approach is to integrate all measures concerning working methods, computerisation and the training of customs officials within a single legal instrument, and finance them from a single budget heading;

(7) Whereas the applicant countries of Central and Eastern Europe, Cyprus and Malta should be allowed to take part in the programme;

(8) Whereas the European Union has proposed allowing Turkey to participate on a case-by-case basis in certain Community programmes, under the same conditions as the associated countries of Central and Eastern Europe;

(9) Whereas, to enable these amendments to have their full impact, the programme's implementation period should be extended to 31 December 2002;

(10) Whereas, to assist the Commission in its administration of the programme and facilitate the adoption of application procedures, a Committee should be set up in parallel to the partnership bodies established under Decision 210/97/EC,

HAVE ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

Decision No 210/97/EC is amended as follows:

1. In Article 1(2), the date '31 December 2000` is replaced by '31 December 2002`.

2. A new Article 14 is added.

'Article 14

Information exchange and communication systems, manuals and guides

1. The Commission and the Member States shall be responsible for the operability of such existing information exchange and communication systems, manuals and guides as they consider necessary. They shall establish and keep operational such new information exchange and communication systems, manuals and guides as they consider necessary.

2. The Community components of the information exchange and communication systems shall be the hardware, software and the network connections which have to be common to all Member States in order to ensure the interconnection and interoperability of the systems, whether they are installed in the premises of the Commission (or designated subcontractor) or of the Member States (or designated subcontractor).

3. The non-Community components of the information exchange and communication systems shall be the national databases forming part of the systems, the network connections between the Community and non-Community components and the software and hardware which each Member State considers necessary to ensure optimal use of the systems throughout the administration.`

3. Article 14 becomes Article 15 and is amended as follows:

- the words 'Decision 91/241/EEC and` are deleted from paragraph (1),

- paragraph (5) is deleted.

4. A new Article 16 is inserted:

'Article 16

Exchanges of officials and seminars

1. The Commission and the Member States shall organise exchanges of officials. Each exchange shall focus on a specific aspect of customs work and shall be thoroughly prepared and subsequently evaluated by the officials and authorities concerned.

Member States shall take the measures necessary to ensure that their officials participate effectively in the work of the host authorities; to that end, the officials concerned shall be authorised to carry out tasks relating to the responsibilities conferred on them by the host authorities in accordance with their legal systems.

For the duration of the exchange, the official shall, in the exercise of his duties, bear the same civil liability as national officials of the host authorities. Officials taking part in an exchange shall be subject to the same rules on professional confidentiality as the national officials of the host country.

2. The Commission and Member States shall organise seminars to be attended by Member State and Commission officials and, where appropriate, representatives of the business and academic world.`

5. Articles 15 and 16 become Articles 17 and 18 respectively.

6. The following new Article 19 on the participation of applicant countries is inserted:

'Article 19

Applicant countries' participation

The applicant countries of Central and Eastern Europe may take part in the programme in accordance with the provisions of the Europe Agreements concerning the terms of such participation, in so far as Community customs law permits. The programme shall also be open to Cyprus, to Turkey by virtue of the customs union, in so far as Community customs law permits, and to Malta.`

7. The following new Article 20 is inserted:

'Article 20

The committee

The committee shall be assisted in carrying out its tasks by a committee made up of Member State representatives and chaired by a Commission representative.

The Commission representative shall submit to the committee a draft of the measures to be taken. The committee shall deliver its opinion on the draft, within a time limit which the chair may lay down according to the urgency of the matter, deciding by vote where appropriate.

The opinion shall be entered in the minutes; each Member State shall also have the right to require that its opinion is included in the minutes.

The Commission shall take full account of the committee opinion. It shall inform the committee of how it has taken account of its opinion.`

8. Article 17 becomes Article 21 and is amended as follows:

1. (unchanged)

'2. Member States shall forward to the Commission:

- by 31 December 1999 at the latest, an interim report and

- by 31 December 2002 at the latest, a final report

on the implementation of this programme.

3. The Commission shall submit to the European Parliament and to the Council:

- by 30 June 2000 at the latest, an interim report on the implementation of this programme,

- by 30 June 2001 at the latest, a communication on the desirability of continuing this programme, accompanied, if necessary, by an appropriate proposal,

- by 30 June 2003 at the latest, a final report on the implementation of this programme.

These reports shall also be forwarded to the Economic and Social Committee for information.`

9. Article 18 becomes Article 22 and paragraph 1 is amended as follows:

'1. Without prejudice to operations financed under other Community programmes, the financial framework for the implementation of this programme for the period 1 January 1996 to 31 December 2002, is hereby set at ECU 136 million.

The annual appropriations shall be authorised within the limit of the financial perspectives.`

10. The Annex is deleted.

Article 2

Council Decision 91/341/EEC of 20 June 1991 on the adoption of a programme of Community action on the subject of the vocational training of customs officials (Matthaeus programme) shall be repealed with effect from the date of publication of this Decision.

Article 3

This Decision is addressed to the Member States.

(1) OJ L 33, 4.2.1997, p. 24.

(2) OJ L 187, 13.7.1991, p. 41.