Proposal for a European Parliament and Council Regulation (EC) amending Council Regulation (EEC) No 3330/91 on the statistics relating to the trading of goods between Member States (97/C 203/07) (Text with EEA relevance) COM(97) 252 final - 97/0155(COD)

(Submitted by the Commission on 2 June 1997)

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 delivered by the Economic and Social Committee,

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 189b of the Treaty,

Whereas, pursuant to Council Regulation (EEC) No 3330/91 of 7 November 1991 on the statistics relating to the trading of goods between Member States (1), as amended by Commission Regulation (EEC) No 3046/92 (2), the Community and the Member States compile statistics relating to the trading of goods between Member States (Intrastat) during the transitional period beginning on 1 January 1993 and ending on the date of changeover to a unified system of taxation in the Member State of origin;

Whereas the simplification of legislation for the internal market, as formulated in the SLIM (simpler legislation for the internal market) initiative, aims to improve enterprises' competitiviness and job creation potential;

Whereas the simplification of the Intrastat system was chosen as a SLIM pilot project, and specific proposals formulated by the SLIM-Intrastat Working Party with a view to reducing the burden on providers of statistical information contained in a communication to the European Parliament and to the Council have been endorsed;

Whereas limiting the information on declarations while maintaining an acceptable level of information for users is a prime means of reducing the burden on providers of statistical information;

Whereas deleting the mode of transport and the terms of delivery is one of these simplification measures; whereas a transition period is nevertheless necessary for certain Member States to adapt their national statistical systems;

Whereas optional data should be abolished in order to limit the burden on providers of statistical information and to guarantee equal treatment of these; whereas the reporting of the country of origin is nevertheless of particular benefit to numerous users and should therefore be retained;

Whereas, in order to meet the expectations of the providers of statistical information and to take account of the Member States' differing administrative set-ups, national administrations are granted a greater flexibility in laying down the deadlines for the transmission of declarations,

HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Regulation (EEC) No 3330/91 is hereby amended as follows:

1. In Article 13 (1), the words 'deadlines and` are deleted.

2. In Article 23 (1), paragraph (f) is deleted.

3. In Article 23 (1), paragraph (g) is deleted.

4. Article 23 (2) is replaced by the following:

'Member States may not require the statistical data medium to mention data other than those provided for in paragraph 1, with the exception of the following:

(a) in the Member State of arrival, the country of origin;

(b) the terms of delivery until 31 December 1999.`

5. The following paragraph 4 is added to Article 23:

'4. The Commission shall ensure the publication of the data required of providers of statistical information by the Member State in the Official Journal of the European Communities, "C" series.`

Article 2

1. This Regulation shall enter into force on the 20th day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.

2. Article 1 (1), (2), (4) and (5) shall apply from 1 January 1998.

3. Article 1 (3) shall apply from 1 January 2000. However, for Member States which apply Council Directives 78/546/EEC (3), 80/1119/EEC (4), 80/1177/EEC (5) and 95/64/EC (6) in full, or which can provide by other means the statistical information provided for by these Directives, this paragraph shall apply before 1 January 2000, from the dates decided by the Commission on the basis of the information transmitted by the Member States concerned.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

(1) OJ No L 316, 16. 11. 1991, p. 1.

(2) OJ No L 307, 23. 10. 1992, p. 27.

(3) OJ No L 168, 26. 6. 1978, p. 29.

(4) OJ No L 339, 15. 12. 1980, p. 30.

(5) OJ No L 350, 23. 12. 1980, p. 23.

(6) OJ No L 320, 30. 12. 1995, p. 25.