AMENDMENT TO THE PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) ON THE STATISTICS RELATING TO THE TRADING OF GOODS BETWEEN MEMBER STATES
Date: 1991-02-07
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: statistics, trading operation

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN  COMMUNITIES 

C0M(91)  18 final  - SYN 181 

Brussels, 7 February 1991 

Amendment  to the proposal  for a 

COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) 

on  the statistics  relating  to the trading of goods  between  Member  States 

(presented  by the Commission  pursuant  to Article  149(3) 
of  the EEC-Treaty) 

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Explanatory memorandum 

1.  The  European  Parliament  has  examined  at  first  reading  the  proposal  for  a  Council 
Regulation  (EEC)  on  the  statistics  relating  to  the  trading  of  goods  between  Member 
States presented  by the Commission on  11 January  1989 and  amended by  it on  17 May 
and 24 September  1990; Parliament  has adopted  a series of  amendments and has again 
asked the Commission to amend its proposal. 

2.  Of  the  amendments  that  the  Commission  can  accept,  four  relate  solely  to  form,  one 
underlines the utility of statistics, and three emphasize the rôle that Parliament wishes to 
play in the future regulation of statistics on the internal market. 

3.  The amendment concerning statistical thresholds makes it possible both to include in the 
basic regulations  a  minimum  limit  in absolute  figures  and to  allow  the Commission  to 
decide,  once  the  appropriate  studies  have  been  concluded,  how  the  different  parties 
responsible  for  providing  statistical  information  are  to  be  composed.  Furthermore,  it 
does  not  preclude  the  possibility  of  adopting  suitable  provisions  for  Member  States 
whose commercial structure might require special measures. 

Amendment  to the proposal for a Council Regulation (EEC) on the 
statistics relating to the trading of goods between Member States<1> 

(Presented by the Commission on 
the EEC Treaty) 

pursuant to Article 149(3) of 

The Commission presented the above-mentioned proposal  to the Council on 
24 September 1990.  Following the opinion delivered by Parliament at 
its sitting on 22 November 1990, the proposal has been amended as 
fol lows: 

1)  add the following text at the end of the fourth recital:  "and this 

kind of  information could prove to be one of the means, among 
others, of assessing the development of economic and social 
cohesion*,"; 

2)  delete the section  In the seventh recital beginning "In order to 
prevent Member States from replacing  ...." and ending ".... 
whatever their customs and tax status or the cause of their being 
moved ;"; 

3)  add "Including electric current" to the end of Article 2(b); 

4)  in Article 4(1)(d), add "In cooperation with the European 

Parliament" after ".... shall determine"; 

5)  replace the text of Article 14 by the following: 

"Failure by any party responsible for providing statistical 
Information to fulfil his obligations under this Regulation shall 
be penalized by the Member States In accordance with their national 
provisions."; 

6)  In Article 16 replace "The Commission shall report to the Council 

on the functioning of the Intrastat system  ...." by "The Commission 
shall report to the Council and the European Parliament on the 
functioning of the Intrastat system ...."; 

7)  delete Article 17(2); 

8)  add "In cooperation with the European Parliament" to the end of 

Article 27; 

(1) 0J No C 254, 9.10.1990, p. 7. 

H 

9)  add  the following second  paragraph  to Article  28(3): 

"The  total  accumulated  levels of, firstly, the exclusion  thresholds 
and, secondly,  the simplification  thresholds fixed  by  the 
Commission  pursuant  to paragraph  2 must  be at  least  ECU  100 000, 
expressed  In annual  values of  Intra-Communlty  trade operations, 
except  where  In a given Member  State  the combined  effects of  these 
thresholds would entail, either on dispatch or on arrival, a  loss 
of  the  Information provided  for  In Articles 21, 22 and  23 exceeding 
by one-third or more  the average  loss of  the other Member  states.". 

Statement» describing the Impact on SUE» «nH ™  —>«ft">"* 

The  Impact  statements annexed to the initial  proposal and to the two 
amended  proposals continue to apply.  However, the following  comments 
are rendered necessary  following the amendment of Article 28. 

1.  Administrâtlva obligations on enterprises arising from the 

application of the, legislation 

The amendment  to Article  28(3) clarifies  further the obligation to 
make a detailed statistical  return, an obligation which will 
henceforth  apply only to undertakings whose annual  Intra-Communlty 
trade operations, on dispatch or on arrival, exceed the minimum 
threshold of ECU 100 000. 

2.  Advantages for tha enterprise / 3.  Disadvantages for the 

enterprise 

As a result, all enterprises below the threshold at which a 
detailed  statistical  return  Is required will  benefit  from a degree 
of exemption or simplification, and the limit between the different 
categories will be fixed by the Commission  after  It has examined 
the results of studies  In progress  In the nine Member  States on the 
concentration of enterprises  In the trade between Member  States.  A 
safeguard  clause has nevertheless had to be provided to guarantee 
that  all Member  States receive a satisfactory  level of statistical 
Information,  irrespective of their economic  structure. 

ISSN 0254-1475 

G 

COM(91) 18 final 

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ISBN 92-77-69246-4 

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