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, with specific reference to the nomenclature of products (97/C 245/07) (Text with EEA relevance) COM(97) 275 final - 97/0162(COD)

(Submitted by the Commission on 4 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, under 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 Regulation (EEC) No 3046/92 (2), the Community and its Member States compile statistics relating to the trading of goods between Member States (Intrastat) during the transitional period which shall begin on 1 January 1993 and end on the date of change-over 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, is intended to improve enterprises' competitiveness and job creation potential;

Whereas the simplification of the Intrastat system has been chosen as a SLIM pilot project, and specific proposals drawn up by the SLIM-Intrastat Working Party for reducing the burden on providers of statistical information have been the subject of a communication to the European Parliament and the Council and have been welcomed by them;

Whereas the simplification of the product nomenclature to be used for Intrastat purposes is one such proposal, since information providers generally regard the classification of products as difficult;

Whereas, therefore, there is a need to simplify this nomenclature while maintaining its link with the nomenclature used for the trading of goods with non-member countries and its compatibility with other statistical classifications;

Whereas the Commission considers it desirable to establish a partnership with the national authorities and the European representatives of the providers and users of statistical information in order to draw up proposals for simplifying the nomenclature applicable for Intrastat purposes,

HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Article 21 of Regulation (EEC) No 3330/91 is replaced by the following:

'Article 21

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 nomenclature applicable to the trading of goods between Member States (Intrastat Nomenclature).

2. The Intrastat Nomenclature shall be a goods code nomenclature based on the Harmonized System in force. In order to take account of specific needs, it may contain a strictly limited number of subdivisions below Harmonized System subheading level. Any such subdivisions below Harmonized System subheading level shall be identified by subheadings of the current version of the Combined Nomenclature.

3. This nomenclature 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.

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

5. To take account of their internal organization, providers of statistical information may use the Combined Nomenclature to identify goods on the statistical data medium.

6. The Member States may require providers of statistical information to describe the goods in such a way that the above-mentioned codes can be checked.`

Article 2

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

Until the nomenclature adopted under Article 1 of this Regulation comes into force, the Member States shall use the Combined Nomenclature to identify goods.

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.