Council Directive 2005/93/EC of  21 December 2005  amending Directive 69/169/EEC as regards the temporary quantitative restriction on beer imports into Finland
Date: 2005-12-21
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: Finland, beer, derogation from EU law, exemption from customs duties, import, import restriction

L 346/16

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

29.12.2005

COUNCIL DIRECTIVE 2005/93/EC

of 21 December 2005

amending Directive 69/169/EEC as regards the temporary quantitative restriction on beer imports
into Finland

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty
Community, and in particular Article 93 thereof,

establishing the European

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament (1),

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

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

Articles 4 and 5 of Council Directive 69/169/EEC of 28
May 1969 on the harmonisation of provisions laid down
by law, regulation or administrative action relating to
exemption from turnover
tax and excise duty on
imports in international travel (3) provide for allowances
in respect of excisable goods contained in the luggage of
travellers coming from third countries on condition that
such imports have no commercial character.

Directive 69/169/EEC allows Finland until 31 December
2005 to restrict the import of beer by individuals to not
less than 6 litres per person due to serious economic
difficulties of Finnish retail traders in the border region
as well as a considerable loss of revenue caused by the
increased import of beer from third countries. Finland
has applied the allowance only to a limited extent and
restricted the import of beer to a maximum 16 litres per
person.

The accession of new Member States has provided new
opportunities for people travelling from one of
the
Member States, especially from Estonia, who wish to
Finland reacted to this
bring beer
situation by reducing tax rates on alcoholic beverages
across the board by, on average, 33 %, which is by far
the most significant change for 40 years.

into Finland.

(4)

(5)

(6)

(7)

The reduction in alcohol tax rates has led not only to
significant
losses of excise duty revenue but also to
increased problems in relation to alcohol policy and to
social and health policy. Furthermore, problems in public
order and an increase in alcohol-related crime have
arisen.

Finland has requested a derogation from Article 4(1) of
Directive 69/169/EEC to apply a maximum limit for beer
imports by travellers from third countries of not less
than 16 litres per person.

Account should be taken of the geographical situation of
Finland, the economic difficulties of the Finnish retail
traders located in the border regions and the considerable
loss of revenue caused by the increased imports of beer
from third countries.

those reasons and in the light of

For
the current
reflections on a general revision of the values and quan-
tities of goods set out in Directive 69/169/EEC,
it is
appropriate to authorise Finland to apply the requested
derogation for a further period until 31 December 2007,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:

Article 1

Article 5(9) of Directive 69/169/EEC shall be replaced by the
following:

‘9.
By way of derogation from Article 4(1), Finland shall
be authorised, until 31 December 2007, to apply a maximum
quantitative limit of not less than 16 litres for the impor-
tation of beer from third countries.’

Article 2

(1) Opinion delivered on 13 December 2005 (not yet published in the

Official Journal).

(2) Opinion delivered on 14 December 2005 (not yet published in the

Official Journal).

(3) OJ L 133, 4.6.1969, p. 6. Directive as last amended by Directive

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

1. Member States shall bring into force the laws, regulations
and administrative provisions necessary to comply with this
Directive by 31 December 2005. They shall forthwith commu-
nicate to the Commission the text of such laws, regulations or
administrative provisions, together with a table showing the
correlation between them and this Directive.

29.12.2005

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 346/17

When they are adopted by Member States, those measures shall
contain a reference to this Directive or shall be accompanied by
such a reference on the occasion of their official publication.
The methods of making such reference shall be laid down by
Member States.

2. Member States shall communicate to the Commission the
text of the main provisions of national law which they adopt in
the field covered by this Directive.

Article 3

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

Article 4

This Directive is addressed to the Member States.

Done at Brussels, 21 December 2005.

For the Council
The President

B. BRADSHAW