Common Position (EC) No 7/2003 of 21 January 2003 adopted by the Council, acting in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 251 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, with a view to adopting a Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council on computerising the movement and surveillance of excisable products
Date: 2003-01-21
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: alcoholic beverage, excise duty, fraud, free movement of goods, information technology applications, mineral oil, tobacco

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I

(Information)

COUNCIL

COMMON POSITION (EC) No 7/2003

adopted by the Council on 21 January 2003

with a view to adopting Decision No . . ./2003/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council
of . . . relating to computerising the movement and surveillance of excisable products

(2003/C 64 E/01)

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 (1),

Having regard to the Opinion of the European Economic and
Social Committee (2),

Acting in accordance with the procedure provided for in
Article 251 of the Treaty (3),

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 (4) 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

(5) For

the purposes of

implementing this Decision,

the
Commission should coordinate Member States' activities,
so as to ensure the smooth operation of
the internal
market.

considerable

(6) Because of the size and complexity of such a computerised
system, both the Community and the Member States will
need
financial
resources for the purpose. Accordingly, provision should
be made whereby the Commission and the Member States
make the necessary resources available for the devel-
opment and deployment of the system.

additional

human

and

(7) The

the

division

between

Community

and
non-Community components of the 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, assisted by the relevant Committee, should
fulfil a major
in coordinating, organising and
role
managing the system.

(2) Commission

No

(EEC)

Regulation

of
11 September 1992 on the accompanying document for
the movement under duty-suspension arrangements of
products subject to excise duty (5)
lays down the form
and content of
the accompanying document provided
for in Directive 92/12/EEC.

2719/92

(3) It is necessary to have a computerised system for moni-
toring the movement of excisable goods, such as will allow
Member States to obtain real-time information on those
movements and to carry out
checks,
including checks during movement of products, within
the meaning of Article 15 of Directive 92/12/EEC.

requisite

the

(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.

(1) OJ C 51 E, 26.2.2002, p. 372.
(2) OJ C 221, 17.9.2002, p. 1.
(3) European Parliament Opinion of 24 September 2002 (not yet
Journal), Council Common Position of
(not

published in the Official
21 January 2003 and European Parliament Decision of . . .
yet published in the Official Journal).

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

2000/47/EC (OJ L 193, 29.7.2000, p. 73).

(5) 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).

(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) Establishing the computerised system serves to enhance
the internal-market aspects of the movement of excisable
goods. Any fiscal aspects relating to the movement of
excisable
amending
Directive 92/12/EEC. This Decision does not prejudice
the legal basis of any future amendments to Directive
92/12/EEC.

addressed by

should be

goods

(11) This Decision lays down, for the entire period needed for
the development and the deployment of the system, a
financial
reference
framework constituting the prime
within the meaning of Point 33 of the Interinstitutional
Agreement of 6 May 1999 between the European
Parliament,
the Commission on
budgetary discipline and improvement of the budgetary
procedure (6),
the budgetary authority during the
annual budgetary procedure.

the Council

and

for

(6) OJ C 172, 18.6.1999, p. 1.

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(12) The measures necessary for the implementation of this
Decision should be adopted in accordance with Council
Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying down the
procedures
implementing powers
the exercise of
conferred on the Commission (1),

for

HAVE ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 4

The Commission,

1.
in accordance with the
procedure provided for in Article 7(2), shall coordinate the
setting up and running of the Community and non-Community
components of the computerised system, and in particular:

acting

Article 1

(a) the infrastructure and tools needed to guarantee the

system's internal links and overall interoperability;

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
‘the computerised system’, is hereby established.

the movement

2.

The computerised system is intended to:

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

(b) the instruments for the exploitation of data to combat

fraud.

2.
To achieve the aims of paragraph 1, the Commission
shall conclude the necessary contracts for setting up the
Community components of
the computerised system and
shall, in cooperation with the Member States meeting within
the Committee referred to in Article 7(1), draw up a master
plan and management plans required for the establishment and
running of the system.

(b) improve

the

the

functioning of

internal market, by
simplifying the intra-Community movement of products
under
and by
excise duty suspension arrangements,
affording Member States the possibility of monitoring the
flows in real time and of carrying out the requisite checks
where necessary.

The master plan and the management plans shall specify the
initial and routine tasks which the Commission and each
Member State are to perform. The management plans shall
specify the completion dates
required for
carrying out each project identified in the master plan.

the tasks

for

Article 2

Member States and the Commission shall
establish the
computerised system within six years of the entry into force
of this Decision.

relating to the initiation of application of

Activities
computerised system shall begin not
months after the entry into force of this Decision.

the
than twelve

later

Article 3

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

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

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.

(1) OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23.

Article 5

1. 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.

They shall report to the Commission the results of each task
and the date of its completion. The Commission shall in turn
inform the Committee referred to in Article 7(1) thereof.

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.

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 be
taken only with the prior agreement of the Commission, acting
in accordance with the procedure provided for in Article 7(2).

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.
The Commission shall in turn inform the Committee referred
to in Article 7(1) thereof.

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Article 6

Article 9

this
The measures necessary for
the implementation of
Decision relating to the setting up and running of
the
computerised system and to the matters referred to in Article
4(1) and in Article 5(2) second subparagraph shall be adopted
in accordance with the procedure provided for in Article 7(2).
These implementing measures shall not affect the Community
provisions in relation to the raising and checking of indirect
taxes or administrative cooperation and mutual assistance in
matters of indirect taxation.

Article 7

1.
The Commission shall be assisted by the Committee on
Excise Duties set up under Article 24 of Directive 92/12/EEC.

2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Articles 4 and
7 of Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply, having regard to the
provisions of Article 8 thereof.

The period laid down in Article 4(3) of Decision 1999/468/EC
shall be set at three months.

3.

The Committee shall adopt its rules of procedure.

Article 8

The Commission shall

1.
take whatever other steps are
financed from the
necessary to verify that
general budget of the European Union 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,
meeting in the Committee
referred to in Article 7(1),
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.

Thirty months after the entry into force of this Decision,
2.
the Commission shall submit to the Committee referred to in
Article 7(1) an interim report on the monitoring operations. If
appropriate, this report shall set out methods and criteria to be
used in the later evaluation of how the computerised system is
functioning.

3.
At the end of the six-year period referred to in the first
subparagraph of Article 2, the Commission shall present to the
European 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.

that have applied for membership of

The countries
the
European Union shall be kept informed by the Commission
of
the computerised
system and may take part in the tests to be carried out.

the development and deployment of

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,
the computerised system and the ongoing
components of
operating costs of those Community components installed in
Commission premises, or
subcontractor
designated by the Commission.

in those of

a

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

Article 11

1.
The financial framework for financing the computerised
system for the period defined in the first subparagraph of
Article 2 is hereby set at EUR 35 000 000 insofar as the
general budget of the European Union is concerned.

including appropriations assigned
The annual appropriations,
to the use and operation of
the above
implementation period, shall be authorised by the budgetary
authority within the limits of 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. The Commission and the Member States
shall provide the human, budgetary and technical resources
needed to establish and run the computerised system.

Article 12

This Decision shall enter into force on the day of its publi-
cation in the Official Journal of the European Union.

This Decision is addressed to the Member States.

Article 13

Done at Brussels, . . .

For the European Parliament

For the Council

The President

The President

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STATEMENT OF THE COUNCIL'S REASONS

I. INTRODUCTION

1. On 20 November 2001 the Commission sent the Council a proposal for a Decision of the European
Parliament and of the Council on computerising the movement and surveillance of excisable
products.

2. The European Parliament delivered its Opinion on this proposal at first reading on 24 September

2002.

3. The Economic and Social Committee delivered its Opinion on 29 May 2002.

4. The Council adopted its common position under Article 251 of the Treaty on 21 January 2003.

5. On 20 December 2002 the Commission submitted an amended proposal in accordance with Article

250(2) of the Treaty.

II. OBJECTIVE OF THE PROPOSAL

The purpose of the proposal is to set up a system for computerising the movement and surveillance of
excisable products.

III. ANALYSIS OF THE COMMON POSITION

Although the Council supports the objective of the Commission's proposal, the common position
differs from this proposal,

— as regards the timetable

— the date of entry into force of the Decision is fixed on the day of its publication in the Official

Journal (Art. 12)

— the period in which the Member States and the Commission must introduce the computerised
system is six years from the date of entry into force of the Decision (Art. 2, first paragraph)

— activities relating to the initiation of application of the system begin not later than 12 months
(instead of nine months) after the entry into force of the Decision (Art. 2, second paragraph)

— as regards the scope

In order to define the scope of the proposal and to clarify ambiguities regarding effects on tax
legislation, the Council decided

— to reword points (b) and (c) of Article 1(2) so that the new point (b) aims to improve the
operation of the internal market by simplifying intra-Community movements of products under
excise-duty suspension arrangements and enabling the Member States to monitor the flow in
real time and to carry out checks where necessary

— to make drafting amendments to Article 4, especially to paragraph 1(b), stating that the purpose
of the computerised system is to set up the necessary instruments for the exploitation of data to
combat fraud.

— as regards the management procedure

With a view to simplification, the Council has designated as the only competent committee
responsible for project management the Committee on Excise Duties introduced by Article 24 of
Directive 92/12/EEC.

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IV. AMENDMENTS PROPOSED BY THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

The common position adopted by the Council included as such, in part or in substance, five of the
eleven amendments adopted by the European Parliament:

— Amendments 1 and 7: on the need to make the computerised system for movement and surveillance
of excisable products consistent with the new computerised transit system. Most of this objective
has been adopted by the Council in a statement to be entered in the Council minutes.

— Amendment 5: concerning the replacement in the English version of the concept ‘special reference’

by ‘prime reference’.

— Amendment 6: concerning the collaboration of the Commission in establishing the computerised

system. This objective is adopted in the first paragraph of Article 2.

— Amendment 11: concerning the computerisation requirement for countries that have applied for
it was not deemed useful to make it mandatory, prior to

membership. For budgetary reasons,
accession, for Member States to take part in tests effected under this Decision.

The Council rejected amendments 2, 3, 4, 8, 9 and 10.

— Amendments 2 and 8: these amendments were not adopted; the arrangements referred to therein

should be left to the Member States' discretion.

— Amendments 3 and 9:

it was not deemed useful to adopt these amendments, as the security aspects

are covered in Article 3, first paragraph, by the term ‘specifications’.

— Amendment 4: it was not deemed necessary to introduce intermediate applications, as the proposal

aimed at setting up a comprehensive system.

— Amendment 10: goes beyond the scope of the proposal, since the amendment involves changes to
the tax legislation of the Member States; the arrangements provided for by this amendment fall
within the scope of Directive 92/12/EEC.