Proposal for a Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council on computerising the movement and surveillance of excisable products
Date: 2001-11-19
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: alcoholic beverage, excise duty, fraud, free movement of goods, information technology applications, quantitative restriction, tobacco

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Proposal for a Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council on computerising the
movement and surveillance of excisable products

(2002/C 51 E/29)

COM(2001) 466 final (cid:151) 2001/0185(COD)

(Submitted by the Commission on 19 November 2001)

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL
OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community, and in particular Article 95 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of
Committee,

the Economic and Social

Acting in accordance with the procedure provided for in
Article 251 of the Treaty,

Whereas:

(1) Council Directive 92/12/EEC of 25 February 1992 on the
general arrangements for products subject to excise duty
and on the holding, movement and monitoring of such
products (1) provides that products moving between the
territories of
excise-duty
suspension arrangements must be accompanied by a
document completed by the consignor.

the Member States under

(2) Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2719/92 of 11
September 1992 on the accompanying administrative
the movement under duty-suspension
document
to excise duty lays
arrangements of products subject
down the form and content of
the accompanying
document provided for in the Directive 92/12/EEC (2).

for

(3) In view of the findings and recommendations set out in a
report delivered on 24 April 1998 by a High Level Group
on fraud in the alcohol and tobacco sectors, it is plainly
necessary to replace the existing paper-based system with
a computerised system for monitoring the movement of
excisable goods, such as will allow Member States to
obtain real-time information on those movements and
to carry out
including checks
during movement of products, within the meaning of
Article 15 of Directive 92/12/EEC.

the requisite checks,

(4) The setting-up of a computer system should also allow the
intra-Community movement of goods under suspension
of excise duties to be simplified.

(5) For the purposes of

the
Commission should coordinate Member States’ activities,

implementing this Directive,

(1) OJ L 76, 23.3.1992, p. 1; Directive as last amended by Directive

2000/47/EC (OJ L 197, 29.7.2000, p. 73).

(2) OJ L 276, 19.9.1992, p. 1; Regulation as amended by Regulation

(EEC) No 2225/93 (OJ L 198, 7.8.1993, p. 5).

the internal
so as to ensure the smooth operation of
market.
the use of data to
should also support
combat fraud, particularly by applying risk analysis at
the Community level.

It

(6) Because of

the

size

complexity of

such a
and
computerised system, both the Community and the
Member States will need large additional human and
purpose. Accordingly,
the
financial
provision should be made whereby the Commission and
the Member States make the necessary resources available
for the development and deployment of the system.

resources

for

(7) The

the

Community
the

between
components

and
division
non-Community
computerised
system should also be defined, as should the respective
duties of the Commission and the Member States with
regard to the system’s development and deployment. In
that context, the Commission should fulfil a major role in
coordinating, organising and managing the system.

of

(8) Arrangements

implementation of
toring excisable goods.

should be made

the
for
the computerised system for moni-

evaluating

(9) The funding of the system should be shared between the
Community and the Member States,
the Community’s
share being specifically entered as such in the General
Budget of the European Union.

(10) This Decision establishes an overall

financial amount
covering the entire period needed for the development
and the deployment of the system, and representing the
budgetary
reference(cid:146) within the
(cid:145)special
meaning of Point 33 of the Interinstitutional Agreement
of 6 May 1999 between the European Parliament, the
Council and the Commission on budgetary discipline
and improvement of the budgetary procedure (3).

authority’s

(11) Since the measures necessary for the implementation of
this Decision are management measures within the
meaning of in Article 2 of Council Decision 1999/468/EC
of 28 June 1999 laying down the procedures for the
exercise of
conferred on the
Commission (4), they should be adopted by use of the
management procedure provided for in Article 4 of that
Decision,

implementing powers

(3) OJ C 172, 18.6.1999, p. 1.
(4) OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23.

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HAVE ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 4

Article 1

1.
The Commission shall coordinate the setting-up and
running of the Community and non-Community components
of the computerised system, and in particular:

A computerised

1.
and
system for
surveillance of excisable products of the kind referred to in
Article 3(1) of Directive 92/12/EEC, hereinafter referred to as
(cid:145)the computerised system(cid:146), is hereby established.

the movement

(a) the infrastructure and tools needed to guarantee the

system’s internal links and overall interoperability;

2.

The computerised system shall:

(b) the exploitation of data to combat fraud, particularly by

applying risk analysis at the Community level.

(a) permit the electronic transmission of the accompanying
administrative document provided for in Regulation (EC)
No 2719/92, and the improvement of checks;

(b) combat fraud by enabling the Member States to monitor
the flow of excisable products in real time and carry out
the requisite checks where necessary;

(c) simplify the intra-Community movement of products under
excise-duty suspension arrangements, in particular by facili-
tating and speeding up the discharge of such movements.

2.
To achieve the aims of paragraph 1, the Commission shall
conclude the requisite contracts and shall draw up, in coop-
eration with the Member States, management plans for setting
up and running the system.

The management plans shall state which initial tasks and which
routine tasks the Commission and the individual Member State,
the completion
respectively, are responsible for completing,
date for each task and what evidence of completion may be
required.

Article 2

Article 5

The Member States shall establish the computerised system
within five years of the entry into force of this Decision.

1.
The Member States shall ensure that they complete, by
the date specified in the management plans mentioned in
Article 4(2), the initial and routine tasks allocated to them.

Work on developing the computerised system shall begin not
later than nine months after the entry into force of
this
Decision.

They shall report to the Commission when each task has been
completed and shall provide proof of
its
completion.

the date of

The Commission and the Member States shall make available
resources needed to
the human, budgetary and technical
establish and run the computerised system.

2.
No Member State shall take any action relating to the
setting-up or running of the computerised system that might
affect the system’s internal links and overall interoperability or
its functioning as a whole.

Article 3

The computerised system shall be made up of Community and
non-Community components.

the system shall be the
The Community components of
common specifications, the technical products, the services of
(Common Communications Network/Common
the CCN/CSI
Interface) network, and the coordination services
Systems
used by all
to the exclusion of any
feature of any such services designed to
variant or special
meet national requirements.

the Member States,

Any measure that a Member State might wish to take and that
could affect either the computerised system’s internal links and
overall interoperability or its functioning as a whole shall only
be taken with the prior agreement of the Commission.

3. Member States shall inform the Commission regularly of
any measure they may have taken to enable their respective
administrations to make full use of the computerised system.

Article 6

The non-Community components of the system shall be the
national specifications, the national databases forming part of
the system, network connections between Community and
non-Community components and any software or equipment
which a Member State considers necessary to ensure full use of
the system throughout its administration.

The Commission shall introduce any measures that are needed
for the implementation of this Decision in accordance with the
procedure set out in Article 7. These implementing measures
shall not affect
the Community provisions governing the
raising and checking of indirect taxes or administrative coop-
eration and mutual assistance in matters of indirect taxation.

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Article 7

1.
The Commission shall be assisted by the Standing
Committee on Administrative Cooperation in the field of
Indirect Taxation established by Article 10 of Council Regu-
lation (EEC) No 218/92 (1).

reference

2. Where
the
management procedure provided for in Article 4 of Decision
1999/468/EC shall apply, in compliance with Articles 7 and 8
thereof.

to this paragraph,

is made

The period referred to in Article 4(3) of Decision

3.
1999/468/EC shall be three months.

Article 8

The Commission shall

1.
take whatever other steps are
financed from the
necessary to verify that
Community budget are being carried out correctly and in
compliance with the provisions of this Decision.

the measures

in collaboration with the Member States,
It shall regularly,
monitor the various development and deployment stages of
the computerised system with a view to determining whether
the objectives pursued have been achieved, and to issuing
guidelines on how to raise the effectiveness of the activities
involved in implementing the computerised system.

2.
Thirty months after the entry into force of this Decision,
the Commission shall submit to the Committee referred to in
Article 7 an interim report on the monitoring operations. If
appropriate, this report shall set out methods and criteria for
use in the later evaluation of how the computerised system is
functioning.

At the end of the five-year period referred to in the first
3.
paragraph of Article 2,
to
Parliament and the Council a report on the implementation
of
the computerised system. The report shall set out,
inter
alia, the methods and criteria to be used in the later evaluation
of how the system is functioning.

the Commission shall present

the development and deployment of

of
system and may take part in the tests to be carried out.

the computerised

Article 10

1.
The costs of setting up the computerised system shall be
split between the Community and the Member States in
accordance with paragraphs 2 and 3.

the costs of

The Community shall bear

the design,
2.
installation and maintenance of the Community
acquisition,
components of
the computerised system and the ongoing
operating costs of those Community components installed in
Commission premises, or in those of a designated subcon-
tractor.

3. Member States shall bear the costs of setting up and
running the non-Community components of the system and
those non-Community
costs of
the ongoing operating
components installed in their premises, or
in those of a
designated subcontractor.

Article 11

The

overall

reference

the
1.
computerised system for
the period defined in the first
paragraph of Article 2 shall be set at EUR 35 000 000 in so
far as the Community budget is concerned.

financing

amount

for

The annual appropriations, including appropriations assigned
to the use and operation of
the above
implementation period, shall be approved by the budgetary
authority subject to the financial perspective.

the system after

2. Member States shall estimate and make available the
budgets and human resources needed to meet their obligations
described in Article 5.

Article 12

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

Article 9

the
The countries
European Union may be kept informed by the Commission

that have applied for membership of

Article 13

This Decision is addressed to the Member States.

(1) OJ L 24, 1.2.1992, p. 1.

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ANNEX

Technical aspects

The data transmission system will use an architecture in which the Member States will be responsible for all telephone
switchboards and electronic switching stations used by traders in the respective Member States, or by the Member States
themselves, to receive or transmit data, and for all data exchanges with other Member States. No external intermediaries
will be used to carry out these tasks.

If the system is to be used for commercial operations, very high standards of security and confidentiality have to be built
into it. In particular it must be guaranteed to be tamper-proof, the data transmitted must enjoy absolute privacy and the
system must be permanently available, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Similarly, recovery times after any breakdowns
must be very short.

1. Architecture

Given the conclusions of the feasibility study and the data transmission system selected, the principles underlying the
proposal are:

(cid:151) All listed operators (authorised warehousekeepers and their bonded warehouses, registered traders and their tax

representatives) must be connected up to the system.

(cid:151) All data transmitted between traders connected up to the system must be transmitted via at least one Member State.

(cid:151) Certain other traders, particularly non-registered traders (occasional consignees) will not have direct access to the

system. In their case, certain data must be transmitted directly between traders.

(cid:151) Where data are so transmitted, only one of the traders, generally the consignor, will be responsible for putting the

data into the system.

(cid:151) Listed operators will be responsible for providing all data on the movement of goods, particularly the data required
for submitting and, where necessary, updating the movement information (the electronic AAD (1)), and for returning
the (cid:145)discharged(cid:146) message.

(cid:151) All administrative data other than movement data, will be transmitted directly between Member States. The data

may never be transmitted via traders.

(cid:151) Information that is in the public domain may be made available for consultation at an information centre accessible

to the public.

(cid:151) Where use of the computerised system is concerned, a trader may communicate directly only with the Member State

responsible for the place from which, or to which, the products are consigned, as appropriate.

It is recognised that the CCN/CSI infrastructure already in use to link the Member States would give the projected system
a head start. It is proposed that the AFIS infrastructure should be used temporarily for movement verification, mutual
assistance and any other related exchanges.

(1) Accompanying administrative document

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The resulting architecture is therefore as follows:

Each Member State has one applications server (the computerised system for the movement and surveillance of excisable
products) to process messages issued by its officials or by traders. Each server is linked up to the CCN/CSI (1) network by
a CCN gateway. The officials’ work stations (in the Member States) are connected up to the server for the computerised
system by the internal AEM network. The various help centres and helpdesks are connected up to the system’s server
and/or the CCN gateway (not shown in the diagram).

Traders (ECOP) are connected up to their respective Member States by a front-end communications channel (COM)
which is duplicated so that, if one channel is down, the other ensures that the site remains available. Most traders use
only one work station or one stand-alone PC but larger traders will have their own server and network.

The European Commission departments (the Directorate-General for Taxation and Customs Union (TAXUD) and the
European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF)) are directly linked to a CCN gateway. The AFIS (2) server is linked to the same
gateway.

The applications centre (AC) is connected up to its own CCN gateway.

Each Member State is responsible for all the functions falling within its local domain.

2. Functions

To permit development and deployment to be staggered over the period, the system would be broken down into three
groups of functions, as follows:

(cid:151) Group I: The essential reference module for the AAD electronic routing system, chiefly comprising the basic data of
the individual specifications in the Directive and the details of the mutual obligations on data exchange. Access to
the VIES (3) system may be added to this group.

(cid:151) Group II: The AAD electronic routing system itself and all the data required for drawing up a movement document.

(cid:151) Group III: The additional modules for which the electronic AAD (Group II) is the pre-requisite but which do not

themselves have any effect on the AAD routing system.

(1) Common Communications Network/Common Systems Interface.
(2) Anti-Fraud Information System.
(3) VAT Information Exchange System.

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The function modules which make up the different Groups are illustrated below in descending hierarchical order. Dark
arrows indicate that the return module cannot function if the reference module is not operational. Dotted arrows show
that the reference modules can be left out temporarily although it would be advisable to develop them. Modules shaded
in grey are those which the Member States and traders regard as priorities.

For easier reading, not all transmission links have been shown.

The following paragraphs summarise the subsystems in each Group.

Group I: Pre-requisite functions (development period (cid:151) two and half years from start-up of activities)

This group includes all the functions needed to activate the system as a whole, i.e:

(cid:151) drawing up reference lists (lists of codes,

lists of excise offices handling the system, structure of the excisable

products, thesaurus of terms;

(cid:151) management and consultation of listed traders;

(cid:151) management of and consultation on guarantees;

(cid:151) management of and consultation on excise rates;

(cid:151) consultation of VAT data;

(cid:151) related reports.

It should be pointed out that, where possible, some of the reference lists such as the list of codes and list of Member
States’ offices will be shared with the New Computerised Transit System (NCTS).

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Group II: Electronic AAD routing system (development period (cid:151) four years commencing one year after start-up of
activities)

This group comprises the functions needed for managing the electronic AAD, i.e:

(cid:151) management of guarantee certificates;

(cid:151) submitting and registering the AAD;

(cid:151) updating and splitting the AAD whilst a movement is under way;

(cid:151) acceptance or rejection of the AAD;

(cid:151) link to the customs arrangements for exporting goods;

(cid:151) claims for losses;

(cid:151) consultation and recovery of movement data;

(cid:151) automatic reminders;

(cid:151) related reports.

Group III: Downstream functions (development period (cid:151) two years commencing three years after start-up of
activities)

This group includes:

(cid:151) registration of reports on wayside checks;

(cid:151) risk evaluation;

(cid:151) management of warnings;

(cid:151) automatic reminders;

(cid:151) statistics;

(cid:151) movement verification and mutual assistance;

(cid:151) free text messages.

Applications

Apart from the application functions listed above, other aspects also have to be developed in order to be able to:

(cid:151) allocate user names;

(cid:151) change passwords;

(cid:151) check links;

(cid:151) consolidate statistics;

(cid:151) allow support personnel to consult data;

(cid:151) allow support personnel to make corrections and connect up equipment.

3. Tasks

Work will be shared out between the European Commission and the Member States as follows:

(cid:151) The Commission will coordinate all work done by the partners, as also the joint programme. It will check the
It will provide an

overall systems specification and supervise the development of
applications centre for the partners so that they can check operations and evaluate the various components.

the common applications.

(cid:151) Each Member State will set up a network of terminals, develop its own application and open it up to traders. Each

party involved will do that part of the work on the common programme that relates to itself.

3.1 The European Commission

In view of European Union policy, the system for the movement and surveillance of excisable products should be
computerised in three stages, as in the classic V-shaped development approach. The main components identified as
being the European Commission’s responsibility are:

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A central project office, which will also coordinate the support programme and supervise deployment, will be
responsible for:

(cid:151) the common specifications;

(cid:151) technical products;

(cid:151) the services of the CCN/CSI network;

(cid:151) the coordination services for all the Member States.

These Community components do not include any variant or special feature designed to meet purely national needs.

It should be noted that the experience of the Member States is required as input into the systems specification. The
Commission will
the Member States in establishing this
specification.

therefore request the participation and contributions of

The Commission, with the collaboration of the Member States, will also regularly evaluate the various development
stages of the system.

3.2 The Member States

Each Member State must develop and implement its own application of the system whilst complying with the operating
and technical specifications supplied by the Commission.

Member States are free to select tools, the technical environment, equipment and the like to suit their internal
requirements. Each Member State may develop its application on an existing platform. However, the resulting system
must comply fully with the specifications jointly agreed by the Commission and the Member States. In particular, the
intra-EU interfaces must be strictly compatible in form and semantics with the systems developed by other Member
States.

To help Member States check the compatibility of their applications and prepare for validation (type-approval) of their
systems, the European Commission will provide the Member States with validation tools.

The following components are the responsibility of the Member States:

(cid:151) drawing up of national specifications;

(cid:151) participation in the drawing up of the common operating specifications and interfaces;

(cid:151) establishing a national project office;

(cid:151) quality management;

(cid:151) security and management policy;

(cid:151) developing Group I applications;

(cid:151) acceptance of Group I applications;

(cid:151) developing Group II applications;

(cid:151) acceptance of Group II applications;

(cid:151) developing Group III applications;

(cid:151) acceptance of Group III applications;

(cid:151) the information programme;

(cid:151) the training programme;

(cid:151) the support programme;

(cid:151) deployment.

The Commission will encourage any joint initiatives to develop products that are of interest to some or all the Member
States where one national administration acts as team leader.