ddrg/super_eurlex huggingface dataset:
Recommendation of the European Central Bank

of 5 October 2000

on the external auditors of the national central banks

(ECB/2000/10)

(2000/612/EC)

THE GOVERNING COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK,

Having regard to the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank and in particular to Article 27.1 thereof,

Whereas:

(1) The accounts of the European Central Bank (ECB) and of the national central banks (NCBs) shall be audited by independent external auditors recommended by the Governing Council of the ECB and approved by the Council of the European Union.

(2) Pursuant to Council Decision 2000/427/EC of 19 June 2000 in accordance with Article 122(2) of the Treaty on the adoption by Greece of the single currency on 1 January 2001(1), Greece now fulfils the necessary conditions for the adoption of the single currency, and the derogation in favour of Greece laid down in recital 4 of Council Decision 98/317/EC(2) in accordance with Article 109j(4) of the Treaty shall be abrogated with effect from 1 January 2001.

(3) The external auditors recommended in Recommendation ECB/1998/5 of 12 November 1998 on the external auditors of the national central banks(3) reflect the current appointments made by each participating NCB.

(4) An external auditor must be recommended for the Bank of Greece for the annual accounts starting from the financial year 2001.

(5) It is necessary to recommend an amendment to Council Decision 1999/70/EC of 25 January 1999 concerning the external auditors of the national central banks(4), as amended by Decision 2000/223/EC(5) to take into account Member States whose derogation has been abrogated thereafter,

HEREBY RECOMMENDS:

- Ernst & Young (Hellas) Certified Auditors SA and Mr Charalambos Stathakis, who is a registered certified public accountant, as the external auditors of the Bank of Greece for the annual accounts starting from the financial year 2001,

- that the Council of the European Union amend its Decision 1999/70/EC accordingly.

This recommendation shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Communities.

This recommendation is addressed to the Council of the European Union.

Done at Frankfurt am Main, 5 October 2000.

The President of the ECB

Willem F. Duisenberg

(1) OJ L 167, 7.7.2000, p. 19.

(2) OJ L 139, 11.5.1998, p. 30.

(3) OJ C 411, 31.12.1998, p. 11.

(4) OJ L 22, 29.1.1999, p. 69.

(5) OJ L 71, 18.3.2000, p. 24.
EN Official Journal of the European Union C 257/19

RECOMMENDATION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK

of 9 October 2006

to the Council of the European Union on the external auditors of Banka Slovenije

(ECB/2006/14)

(2006/C 257/08)

THE GOVERNING COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK,

Having regard to the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank, and in particular Article 27.1 thereof,

Whereas:

(1) The accounts of the European Central Bank (ECB) and of the national central banks of the Eurosystem are audited by independent external auditors recommended by the Governing Council of the ECB and approved by the Council of the European Union.

(2) Pursuant to Article 1 of Council Decision 2006/495/EC of 11 July 2006 in accordance with Article 122(2) of the Treaty on the adoption by Slovenia of the single currency on 1 January 2007 (1), Slovenia now fulfils the necessary conditions for the adoption of the euro and the derogation in favour of Slovenia referred to in Article 4 of the 2003 Act of Accession (2) is abrogated with effect from 1 January 2007.

(3) The external auditors recommended herein are Banka Slovenije's current auditors, who were appointed for the financial years 2006 to 2008,

HAS ADOPTED THIS RECOMMENDATION:

It is recommended that Deloitte & Touche revizija d.o.o. should be appointed as the external auditors of Banka Slovenije for the financial years 2007 and 2008.

Done at Frankfurt am Main, 9 October 2006. The President of the ECB Jean-Claude TRICHET

(1) OJ L 195, 15.7.2006, p. 25.

(2) OJ L 236, 23.9.2003, p. 33.
EN Official Journal of the European Union C 114/1

RECOMMENDATION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK

of 30 April 2008

to the Council of the European Union on the external auditors of the European Central Bank

(ECB/2008/2)

(2008/C 114/01)

THE GOVERNING COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK,

Having regard to the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank, and in particular Article 27.1 thereof,

Whereas:

(1) The accounts of the European Central Bank (ECB) and of the national central banks of the Eurosystem are audited by independent external auditors recommended by the ECB's Governing Council and approved by the Council of the European Union.

(2) The mandate of the current external auditors of the ECB ended following the audit for the financial year 2007. It is therefore necessary to appoint external auditors from the financial year 2008.

(3) The ECB has selected PricewaterhouseCoopers Aktiengesellschaft Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft as its external auditors for the financial years 2008 to 2012,

HAS ADOPTED THIS RECOMMENDATION:

It is recommended that PricewaterhouseCoopers Aktiengesellschaft Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft should be appointed as the external auditors of the ECB for the financial years 2008 to 2012.
EN Official Journal of the European Union C 5/1

RECOMMENDATION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK

of 28 November 2013

on payments statistics

(ECB/2013/44)

2014/C 5/01

THE GOVERNING COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK,

Having regard to the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank, and in particular to Article 5.1 and the third indent of Article 34.1 thereof,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 2533/98 of 23 November 1998 concerning the collection of statistical information by the European Central Bank (1), and in particular Article 8(5) thereof,

Whereas:

(1) Article 2(1) of Regulation (EC) No 2533/98 provides that statistical information may be collected in the area of payments and payments systems statistics. By means of Regulation (EU) No 1409/2013 of the European Central Bank (ECB/2013/43) (2) the ECB established a framework for collection of payment statistics necessary to fulfill its tasks from payment service providers, electronic money issuers, and payment system operators. These data are essential for identifying and monitoring developments in the payments markets within the Member States, and for assisting in the promotion of the smooth operation of payment systems.

(2) National central banks (NCBs) of Member States whose currency is not the euro, and who are participating in the framework for collection of payment statistics should cooperate with each other, with NCBs of Member States whose currency is the euro and with the ECB in applying this framework in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 1409/2013 (ECB/2013/43),

HAS ADOPTED THIS RECOMMENDATION:

I. Definitions

For the purposes of this Recommendation, the terms ‘payment service provider’, ‘electronic money issuer’, and ‘payment system operator’ have the same meaning as defined in Regulation (EU) No 1409/2013 (ECB/2013/43).

II. Provision of statistical information

The addressees of this Recommendation should apply the provisions addressed to the NCBs contained in Regulation (EU) No 1409/2013 (ECB/2013/43).

III. Final provision

This Recommendation is addressed to the NCBs of Member States whose currency is not the euro, insofar as applicable, which are participating in the framework for collection of payment statistics within the ESCB, established under Regulation (EU) No 1409/2013 (ECB/2013/43).

Done at Frankfurt am Main, 28 November 2013. The President of the ECB Mario DRAGHI

(1) OJ L 318, 27.11.1998, p. 8.

(2) Regulation (EU) No 1409/2013 of the European Central Bank of 28 November 2013 on payments statistics (ECB/2013/43) (OJ L 352, 24.12.2013, p. 18).
EN Official Journal of the European Union C 310/1

RECOMMENDATION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK

of 8 September 2017

to the Council of the European Union on the external auditors of Národná banka Slovenska

(ECB/2017/27)

(2017/C 310/01)

THE GOVERNING COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank, and in particular Article 27.1 thereof,

Whereas:

(1) The accounts of the European Central Bank (ECB) and the national central banks of the Member States whose currency is the euro are audited by independent external auditors recommended by the ECB’s Governing Council and approved by the Council of the European Union.

(2) The mandate of Národná banka Slovenska’s current external auditors, Ernst & Young Slovakia, spol. s r.o., ended after the audit for the financial year 2016. It is therefore necessary to appoint external auditors from the financial year 2017.

(3) Národná banka Slovenska has selected Deloitte Audit s.r.o. as its external auditors for the financial years 2017 to 2020, with an option to extend the mandate to the financial years 2021 to 2023,

HAS ADOPTED THIS RECOMMENDATION:

It is recommended that Deloitte Audit s.r.o. should be appointed as the external auditors of Národná banka Slovenska for the financial years 2017 to 2020, with an option to extend the mandate to the financial years 2021 to 2023.
EN Official Journal of the European Union C 181/1

RECOMMENDATION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK

of 18 May 2018

to the Council of the European Union on the external auditors of Lietuvos bankas

(ECB/2018/15)

(2018/C 181/01)

THE GOVERNING COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank, and in particular Article 27.1 thereof,

Whereas:

(1) The accounts of the European Central Bank (ECB) and the national central banks of the Member States whose currency is the euro are audited by independent external auditors recommended by the ECB's Governing Council and approved by the Council of the European Union.

(2) The mandate of Lietuvos bankas' current external auditors, UAB PricewaterhouseCoopers, ended following the audit for the financial year 2017. It is therefore necessary to appoint external auditors from the financial year 2018.

(3) Lietuvos bankas has selected UAB Deloitte Lietuva as its external auditors for the financial years 2018 to 2021,

HAS ADOPTED THIS RECOMMENDATION:

It is recommended that UAB Deloitte Lietuva should be appointed as the external auditors of Lietuvos bankas for the financial years 2018 to 2021.
Official Journal of the European Union

RECOMMENDATION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK

of 4 February 2021

to the Council of the European Union on the external auditors of Eesti Pank

(ECB/2021/5)

(2021/C 47/02)

THE GOVERNING COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank, and in particular Article 27.1 thereof,

Whereas:

(1) The accounts of the European Central Bank (ECB) and the national central banks of the Member States whose currency is the euro are audited by independent external auditors recommended by the ECB’s Governing Council and approved by the Council of the European Union.

(2) The mandate of Eesti Pank’s current external auditors, KPMG Baltics OÜ, ended after the audit for the financial year 2020. It is therefore necessary to appoint external auditors from the financial year 2021.

(3) Eesti Pank has selected Ernst & Young Baltic AS as its external auditors for the financial years 2021 to 2025,

HAS ADOPTED THIS RECOMMENDATION:

It is recommended that Ernst & Young Baltic AS should be appointed as the external auditors of Eesti Pank for the financial years 2021 to 2025.
Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the "Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the harmonisation of the laws of the Member States relating to electrical equipment designed for use within certain voltage limits (codified version)"

(COM(2003) 252 final - 2003/0094 (COD))

(2004/C 10/02)

On 26 May 2003 the Council decided to consult the European Economic and Social Committee, under Article 308 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the above-mentioned proposal.

The Section for the Single Market, Production and Consumption, which was responsible for preparing the Committee's work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 3 September 2003. The rapporteur was Mr Green.

At its 402nd plenary session (meeting of 24 September 2003), the European Economic and Social Committee adopted the following opinion with 119 votes in favour, one against and three abstentions.

1. Background

1.1. On 1 April 1987 the Commission instructed its staff that all legislative acts should be codified after no more than ten amendments or at even shorter intervals to ensure that the Community rules are clear and readily understandable.

1.2. Given that no changes of substance may be made to the instruments affected by codification, an interinstitutional agreement was made on 20 December 1994 between the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission whereby an accelerated procedure may be used for the fast-track adoption of codified instruments.

2. The Commission proposal

2.1. The purpose of the present proposal is to undertake a codification of the low voltage directive 73/23/EEC. The new directive will supersede the various acts incorporated in it(1). The proposal fully preserves the content of the acts being codified and effects only such formal amendments as are required by the codification exercise itself.

2.2. The low voltage directive covers electrical equipment designed for use with a voltage rating of between 50 and 1000 V for alternating current and between 75 and 1500 V for direct current. It therefore applies to a large proportion of the electrical appliances used for both professional and private purposes. It is the low voltage directive which sets out the requirements for CE marking and an EC declaration of conformity.

3. General comments

3.1. In principle, the EESC endorses the Commission proposal, which is intended to make Community legislation clear and transparent.

4. Specific comments

4.1. Proposed amendment to the wording of the second paragraph of Article 5:""

The present wording does not concern the bodies mentioned in Article 11 of the draft directive. In actual fact the standards are those drawn up by CENELEC(2).

Brussels, 24 September 2003.

The President

of the European Economic and Social Committee

Roger Briesch

(1) Annex V, Part A, of the draft directive.

(2) European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization.
2.1.1

Article 9 of the Sixth Directive defines the place of VAT taxation of supply of services. The special nature of this article is that it sets out a general principle, which is being applied less and less (Article 9-1), and that it provides for exceptions that now affect an increasing number of transactions (Articles 9-2 and 9-3). — Article 9-1 defines the place of the supply of services as being the place where the supplier is established. The general principle is therefore to tax the supply of services in the country in which the supplier is established; — Article 9-2 defines a large number of exceptions to this principle: — in point (a), it states that services connected with immovable property are taxed in the country in which the property is located; — in point (b), it states that transport services are taxed at the place where transport takes place, having regard to the distances covered; — in point (c), it states that cultural, artistic, sporting, scientific, education, leisure, or similar activities are taxed in the country in which they are physically carried out. The same applies to work on and valuations of movable tangible property; — in point (e), it gives a list of services for which the country of taxation is the country in which the customer is established, where the customer is a taxable person established in a country of the Union other than that of the supplier, or where he is established outside the Union. These services, an exhaustive list of which is supplied in the appendix, are generally known as ‘immaterial’ services; — in point (f), it states that for services covered by the last indent of (e), i.e. services supplied by electronic means, to non-taxable persons established within the European Union, the place of taxation is the country of the Union where these persons are established. This is to take account of Article 1 of Directive 2002/38/EC of 7 May 2002, which amends Directive 77/388/EEC.
4.8.2

An interesting example is that of particle filters. Diesel engines produce 25 % less CO2 than petrol engines, but the particles which they emit are a health hazard. A particle filter costs about EUR 500 extra (5-10 % of the cost of a small car). As long as particle filters are not required by law car manufacturers have the choice between offering them as an optional extra or including them as standard and cutting their profit margins, since market conditions make it difficult to raise prices. In practice, whereas 90 % of German customers would opt for a particle filter, the equivalent figure for the rest of Europe would be a mere 5 %! Some manufacturers (3) have therefore decided to phase in particle filters for their vehicles gradually and reduce profit margins, but it is clear that this situation cannot continue indefinitely, especially against the backdrop of fierce international competition. The natural tendency will be for particle filters to become more widespread, but the pace at which this happens will depend on customers' purchasing power, particularly in the case of small cars. This example clearly shows how environmental technology markets come into being: either because of growing awareness among consumers that they or their environment stand to gain from the investment, or as a result of legislative measures. Much of the environmental protection success achieved to date is the result of appropriate legislation. The motor vehicle sector in particular is a good case in point (including, among other things, the introduction of the three-way catalytic converter.
4.1

As a result of enlargement, the EU is facing major economic and social challenges; the EU's structural policy is not sufficient to overcome these on its own, but it can contribute to doing so. The EESC supports the European Commission's proposal to concentrate funding in regions with the weakest economies, which should benefit new Member States in particular, where the concentration of least developed regions is greatest. The EESC feels that the proposed increase in the budget for the Structural Funds from about EUR 276 billion to EUR 336.1 billion for 2007-2013, equivalent to 0.41 % of the EU's gross domestic product (GDP) is appropriate, given that these resources will now have to be shared by 25 Member States. However, in the view of the EESC, structural measures should continue, albeit on a smaller scale, in the old Member States, at least in those regions which are most affected by structural industrial change and are suffering from high unemployment. At the same time, it is important to ensure that fair transitional arrangements are in place for former Objective 1 regions which have lost their eligibility for support due to the so-called statistical effect. The EESC welcomes the Commission's intention to ensure that the EQUAL Community initiative is indeed fully mainstreamed into the ESF and its hitherto indisputable benefits exploited to the full, including the innovative nature of the projects supported, support for the transfer of experience and examples of good practice within the EU and support for the partnership principle in its implementation. After the EQUAL initiative has been mainstreamed, the European Commission could call on the Member States to incorporate measures similar to EQUAL into national operational programmes.
3.2.1

On the one hand, there is no guarantee whatsoever that, for example, funding will actually be available under heading 1a for measures that have up to now been resourced under LIFE-Environment. The responsibility for decisions on the nature and extent of support will now be in different hands, and it is quite possible that, from a political point of view, the decisions could be prompted by quite different concerns. For example, there have been intermittent claims by very influential people and organisations that action has to be taken to get the economy growing again before we can devote more attention to protecting the environment; these views have been reflected even as far as in discussions about the modest results achieved so far by the Lisbon strategy. None of the well-meaning appeals to other Commission departments to take environmental considerations sufficiently on board has so far made much of an impact. DG Environment, which up to now has been able to bring its technical expertise and a separate budget line to bear in selecting model projects across Europe, will no longer have any say on whether innovative, exemplary environmental projects are chosen.
EN Official Journal of the European Union C 24/18

Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the ‘Proposal for a Council Regulation amending Regulation (EEC) No 2075/92 on the common organisation of the market in raw tobacco’

(COM(2005) 235 final — 2005/0105 (CNS))

(2006/C 24/06)

On 14 June 2005, the Council decided to consult the European Economic and Social Committee, under Article 37 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the abovementioned proposal.

The Section for Agriculture, Rural Development and the Environment, which was responsible for preparing the Committee's work on this subject, adopted its opinion on 7 September 2005. The rapporteur (working without a study group) was Mr Fakas.

At its 420th plenary session of 28/29 September 2005 (meeting of 28 September 2005), the European Economic and Social Committee adopted the following opinion by 151 votes in favour, 3 against and 14 abstentions.

1. Introduction

Regulation (EEC) No 2075/92 on the common organisation of the market in raw tobacco provides for a system of premiums and production quotas in Titles I and II respectively. This support system will be applied for the last time for the 2005 harvest.

Under the second package of the CAP reform agreed in April 2004 for Mediterranean products the premium and production quota system is to be discontinued from the 2006 harvest.

In addition, it is no longer necessary to maintain the provision for the quota buy-back programme in respect of the 2005 harvest. Consequently certain articles and the Annex to Regulation (EEC) 2075/92 will become ineffective and will have to be abolished for reasons of legal clarity and transparency.

On 3 June 2005 the Commission therefore submitted to the Council a proposal for a Regulation adapting Regulation (EEC) No 2075/92 further to the 2004 reform in relation to tobacco.

2. Comments

2.1 The EESC considers the Commission's proposal to be the corollary of the reform in the tobacco regime adopted in April 2004, which provided for the system of premiums and production quotas to be abandoned and for the new system of decoupled support to be established.

2.2 The EESC believes that for reasons of simplification following the 2004 reform and the discussions ongoing in the ‘direct aid’ management committee, it would be more useful and practical for the Commission to submit a proposal for a consolidated version of Regulation (EEC) No 2075/92 rather than recommending amendments to, and removal of, certain articles.

2.3 The EESC sees the proposal as a formal document, required for reasons of legal clarity and transparency. It is a move in the right direction and is accepted by the Committee.