Council Regulation (EC) No 2744/98 of 14 December 1998 amending Regulation (EC) No 355/94 and extending the temporary derogation applicable to Germany and Austria
Date: 1998-12-14
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: Austria, Germany, customs regulations, exemption from customs duties, import, transport user

19. 12. 98

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 345/9

COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 2744/98

of 14 December 1998

amending Regulation (EC) No 355/94 and extending the temporary derogation
applicable to Germany and Austria

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community, and in particular Article 28 thereof,

Having regard to the Commission proposal (1),

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parlia-
ment (2),

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social
Committee (3),

Whereas the second subparagraph of Article 2 of Council
Regulation (EC) No 355/94 of 14 February 1994
amending Regulation (EEC) No 918/83 setting up a
from customs duty (4)
Community system of
reliefs
provided for the application until 31 December 1997 of a
temporary derogation to the Federal Republic of
Germany and the Republic of Austria concerning the
application of a threshold of ECU 75 for the allowance
applicable to goods
imported by travellers entering
German or Austrian territory by a land frontier linking
the two Member States to countries other than Member
States and EFTA members or, where appropriate, by
means of coastal navigation from those countries;

Whereas these provisions take account of the economic
difficulties likely to be caused by the amount of the
allowances applicable to travellers importing goods into
the Community in the situations described above;

Whereas, by letters of 24 June and 23 July 1997, the
Federal Republic of Germany and the Republic of Austria
requested an extension of the derogation provided for in
the second subparagraph of Article 2 of Regulation (EC)
No 355/94; whereas their request is based on the fact that
the economic difficulties that had prompted adoption of
Regulations (EC) No 355/94 and (EC) No 3316/94 had
persisted and, in some cases, worsened;

Whereas an extension of the derogation should, however,
be accompanied by the fixing of a deadline for bringing
the threshold of the allowance applied by Germany and
Austria into line with that in force on that date in the
other Member States,
the
threshold applicable to the two Member States in order to
contribute towards limiting distortions of competition
and an undertaking by the Member States that they will
gradually and jointly raise the threshold in order to bring
it into line with the Community threshold by 1 January
2003,

the immediate raising of

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

The second subparagraph of Article 2 of Regulation (EC)
No 355/94 shall be replaced by the following:

‘However, with regard to the Federal Republic of
Germany and the Republic of Austria, this Regulation
shall apply as
from 1 January 2003 for goods
imported by travellers entering German or Austrian
territory by a land frontier linking these two Member
States to countries other than Member States and the
EFTA members or, where applicable, by means of
coastal navigation coming from the said countries.

However, those Member States shall apply an allow-
ance of not less than ECU 100 from 1 January 1999
referred to in the
to imports by the travellers
preceding subparagraph. They shall jointly increase
that amount gradually, with a view to applying the
threshold in force in the Community to the said
imports by 1 January 2003 at the latest.'

Whereas account
described by the two Member States;

should be taken of

the situation

Article 2

(1) OJ C 273, 2. 9. 1998, p. 10.
(2) Opinion delivered on 3 December 1998 (not yet published in

the Official Journal).

(3) Opinion delivered on 15 October 1998 (not yet published in

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

the Official Journal).

(4) OJ L 46, 18. 2. 1994, p. 5. Regulation as amended by Regula-

tion (EC) No 3316/94 (OJ L 350, 31. 12. 1994, p. 12).

This Regulation shall be applicable from 1 January 1998.

L 345/10

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

19. 12. 98

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

Done at Brussels, 14 December 1998.

For the Council

The President

W. MOLTERER