Common Position (EC) No 13/2009 of 16 February 2009 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 the adoption of a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on Community statistics relating to external trade with non-member countries and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 1172/95 (Text with EEA relevance )
Date: 2009-02-16
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: EU Member State, EU statistics, European Community, economic policy, export, foreign market, import, third country, trade statistics

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COMMON POSITION (EC) No 13/2009

adopted by the Council on 16 February 2009

with a view to the adoption of Regulation (EC) No …/2009 of the European Parliament and of the
Council of … on Community statistics relating to external trade with non-member countries and
repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 1172/95

(Text with EEA relevance)

(2009/C 75 E/04)

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE
EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Com-
munity, and in particular Article 285(1) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Central Bank (1),

Acting in accordance with the procedure
Article 251 of the Treaty (2),

laid down in

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

The statistical information on Member States' trade flows
with non-member countries is of essential importance for
the Community's economic and trade policies and for
analysing market developments for individual goods. The
transparency of the statistical system should be improved
to enable it to react to the changing administrative envir-
onment and to satisfy new user requirements. Council
Regulation (EC) No 1172/95 of 22 May 1995 on the
statistics relating to the trading of goods by the Com-
munity and its Member States with non-member coun-
tries (3) should therefore be replaced by a new Regulation
in conformity with the
in
Article 285(2) of the Treaty.

requirements

set out

External trade statistics are based on data obtained from
customs declarations, as provided for in Council Regu-
lation (EEC) No 2913/92 of 12 October 1992 estab-
lishing the Community Customs Code (4)
(hereinafter
referred to as the ‘Customs Code’). Progress in European
integration and the resulting changes in customs clear-
ance, including single authorisations for the use of the
simplified declaration or the local clearance procedure, as
well as centralised clearance, which will emanate from
the current process of modernisation of the Customs
Code as laid down in Regulation (EC) No 450/2008 of
the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April
2008 laying down the Community Customs Code
(Modernised Customs Code) (5) (hereinafter referred to as
the ‘Modernised Customs Code’) warrant a number of
changes. In particular, they make it necessary to adjust
the way external trade statistics are compiled, to recon-
sider the concept of the importing or exporting Member
State, and to define more precisely the data source for
compiling Community statistics.

(1) OJ C 70, 15.3.2008, p. 1.
(2) Opinion of the European Parliament of 23 September 2008 (not yet
published in the Official Journal) and Council Common Position of
16 February 2009.

(3) OJ L 118, 25.5.1995, p. 10.
(4) OJ L 302, 19.10.1992, p. 1.
(5) OJ L 145, 4.6.2008, p. 1.

(3)

(4)

(5)

(6)

(7)

(8)

Simplifications of customs formalities and controls under
the Modernised Customs Code can lead to customs
declarations not being available. In order to keep the
compilation
complete,
measures should be adopted which ensure that those
economic operators who benefit from the simplification
provide statistical data.

statistics

external

trade

of

the European Parliament
Decision No 70/2008/EC of
and of the Council of 15 January 2008 on a paperless
environment for customs and trade (6) will set up an elec-
tronic customs system for the exchange of data contained
in customs declarations. In order to record the physical
trade flow of goods between Member States and non-
member countries and to ensure that data on imports
and exports is available in the Member State concerned,
arrangements between customs and statistical authorities
are necessary and should be specified. This includes rules
on the exchange of data between Member States' admin-
istrations. This data exchange system should benefit as far
as possible from the infrastructure established by the
customs authorities.

In order to allocate Community exports and imports to a
given Member State, it is necessary to compile data on
the ‘Member State of destination’, for imports, and the
‘Member State of actual export’,
In the
medium term, those Member States should become the
importing and the exporting Member State for external
trade statistics purposes.

for exports.

For the purposes of this Regulation, goods for external
trade purposes should be classified in accordance with
the Combined Nomenclature established by Council
Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 of 23 July 1987 on the
tariff and statistical nomenclature and on the Common
Customs Tariff (7)
the
‘Combined Nomenclature’).

(hereinafter

referred

to as

To meet the needs of the European Central Bank and of
the Commission for information on the share of the euro
in international trade in goods, the invoicing currency of
exports and imports should be reported at an aggregated
level.

trade negotiations and internal
For
the purposes of
market management,
be
the Commission should
provided with detailed information on the preferential
treatment of goods imported into the Community.

(6) OJ L 23, 26.1.2008, p. 21.
(7) OJ L 256, 7.9.1987, p. 1.

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(9)

External trade statistics provide data for the compilation
of balance of payments and national accounts. The char-
acteristics which make it possible to adapt
them to
balance of payments purposes should become part of the
mandatory and standard data set.

(10) Member States' statistics on customs warehouses and free
zones are not
the subject of harmonised provisions.
However, the compilation for national purposes of these
statistics remains optional.

(11) Member States should provide Eurostat with annual
aggregated data on trade broken down by business char-
acteristics, one of the uses of which is to facilitate the
analysis of how European companies operate in the
context of globalisation. The link between business and
trade statistics is established by merging data on the
importer and the exporter available on the customs
declaration with data requested by Regulation (EC)
No 177/2008 of the European Parliament and of the
Council of 20 February 2008 establishing a common
framework
statistical
purposes (1).

business

registers

for

for

(12)

(13)

(14)

Council Regulation (EC) No 322/97 of 17 February 1997
on Community Statistics (2) provides a reference frame-
work for the provisions laid down in this Regulation.
However, the very detailed level of information on trade
in goods requires specific confidentiality rules if these
statistics are to be relevant.

The transmission of data subject to statistical confidenti-
ality is governed by the rules set out in Regulation (EC)
No 322/97 and in Council Regulation (Euratom, EEC)
No 1588/90 of 11 June 1990 on the transmission of
data subject to statistical confidentiality to the Statistical
Office of the European Communities (3). Measures which
are taken in accordance with those Regulations ensure
the physical and logical protection of confidential data
and ensure that no unlawful disclosure and non-statistical
use occur when Community statistics are produced and
disseminated.

In the production and dissemination of Community
statistics under this Regulation, the national and Com-
munity statistical authorities should take account of the
principles set out in the European Statistics Code of Prac-
tice, which was adopted by the Statistical Programme
Committee on 24 February 2005 and appended to the
Recommendation of the Commission of 25 May 2005
on the independence, integrity and accountability of the
national and Community statistical authorities.

(15)

Specific provisions should be formulated to remain in
force until such time as changes in customs legislation
result in additional data on the customs declaration and
until Community legislation requires
electronic
exchange of customs data.

the

(1) OJ L 61, 5.3.2008, p. 6.
(2) OJ L 52, 22.2.1997, p. 1.
(3) OJ L 151, 15.6.1990, p. 1.

(16)

(17)

(18)

Since the objective of this Regulation, namely establishing
the common framework for the systematic production of
Community external
trade statistics, cannot be suffi-
ciently achieved by the Member States and can therefore,
by reason of the scale and effects of the Regulation, be
better achieved at Community level, the Community may
in accordance with the principle of
adopt measures,
subsidiarity as
the Treaty.
In accordance with the principle of proportionality, as set
out in that Article, this Regulation does not go beyond
what is necessary in order to achieve that objective.

in Article 5 of

set out

The measures necessary for the implementation of this
Regulation should be
adopted in accordance with
Council Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying
down the procedures for the exercise of implementing
powers conferred on the Commission (4).

In particular, the Commission should be empowered to
adapt the list of customs procedures or customs-approved
treatment or use which determine an export or import
for external trade statistics; to adopt different or specific
rules for goods or movements which, for methodological
reasons, call for specific provisions; to adapt the list of
goods and movements excluded from external
trade
to specify the data sources other than the
statistics;
customs declaration for records on imports and exports
of specific goods or movements; to specify the statistical
data, including the codes to be used; to establish require-
ments for data related to specific goods or movements;
to establish requirements on the compilation of statistics;
to specify the characteristics of samples; to establish the
reporting period and the level of aggregation for partner
countries, goods and currencies; and also to adapt the
deadline for transmitting statistics, content, coverage and
revision conditions for statistics already transmitted; and
to establish the deadline for transmitting statistics on
trade by business characteristics and statistics on trade
broken down by
those
measures are of general scope and are designed to amend
non-essential elements of this Regulation,
inter alia by
supplementing it with new non-essential elements, they
must be adopted in accordance with the regulatory
procedure with scrutiny provided for in Article 5a of
Decision 1999/468/EC,

currency. Since

invoicing

HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Subject-matter

This Regulation establishes a common framework for
the
systematic production of Community statistics relating to trade
in goods with non-member countries (hereinafter referred to as
‘external trade statistics’).

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

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Article 2

Definitions

For the purposes of this Regulation, the following definitions
shall apply:

(a) ‘goods’ means all movable property, including electricity;

(b) ‘statistical territory of the Community’ means the ‘customs
territory of the Community’ as defined in the Customs Code
with the addition of the Island of Heligoland in the territory
of the Federal Republic of Germany;

(c) ‘national statistical authorities’ means the national statistical
institutes and other bodies responsible in each Member State
for producing external trade statistics;

(d) ‘customs authorities’ means the ‘customs authorities’ as

defined in the Customs Code;

(e) ‘customs declaration’ means the ‘customs declaration’ as

defined in the Customs Code;

(f) ‘decision by customs’ means any official act by customs
authorities relating to accepted customs declarations and
having legal effect on one or more persons.

Article 3

Scope

External trade statistics shall record imports and exports

1.
of goods.

An export shall be recorded by Member States in the event that
goods leave the statistical territory of the Community in accord-
ance with one of the following customs procedures or customs-
approved treatment or use, laid down in the Customs Code:

(a) exportation;

(b) outward processing;

(c) re-exportation following either inward processing or proces-

sing under customs control.

An import shall be recorded by Member States in the event that
goods enter the statistical territory of the Community in accord-
ance with one of the following customs procedures laid down
in the Customs Code:

(a) release for free circulation;

(b) inward processing;

(c) processing under customs control.

this Regulation relating to the adaptation of

The measures designed to amend non-essential elements
2.
of
the list of
customs procedures or customs-approved treatment or use
referred to in paragraph 1 in order to take into account changes
in the Customs Code or provisions deriving from international
conventions, shall be adopted in accordance with the regulatory
procedure with scrutiny referred to in Article 11(3).

3.
call

For methodological reasons, certain goods or movements
for specific provisions. This concerns industrial plants,

vessels and aircraft, sea products, goods delivered to vessels and
aircraft, staggered consignments, military goods, goods to or
from offshore installations, spacecraft, electricity and gas and
waste products (hereinafter referred to as ‘specific goods or
movements’).

The measures designed to amend non-essential elements of this
inter alia by supplementing it, relating to specific
Regulation,
goods and movements and to different or specific provisions
applicable to them, shall be adopted in accordance with the
regulatory procedure with scrutiny referred to in Article 11(3).

4.
For methodological reasons, certain goods or movements
shall be excluded from external trade statistics. This concerns
monetary gold and means of payment which are legal tender;
goods the intended use of which is diplomatic or similar nature;
movements of goods between the importing and exporting
Member State and their national armed forces stationed abroad
as well as certain goods acquired and disposed of by foreign
armed forces; particular goods which are not the subject of a
commercial transaction; movements of satellite launchers before
their
repair; goods for or
following temporary use; goods used as carriers of customised
information and downloaded information; and goods declared
orally to customs authorities which either are of a commercial
nature, provided that their value does not exceed the statistical
threshold of EUR 1 000 in value or 1 000 kilograms in net
mass, or are of a non-commercial nature.

launching; goods for and after

The measures designed to amend non-essential elements of this
Regulation, inter alia by supplementing it, relating to the exclu-
sion of goods or movements from external trade statistics, shall
be adopted in accordance with the regulatory procedure with
scrutiny referred to in Article 11(3).

Article 4

Data source

The data source for records on the imports and exports of
1.
goods referred to in Article 3(1) shall be the customs declara-
tion,
including possible amendments or changes to statistical
data resulting from decisions by customs pertaining to it.

2. Where the further simplification of customs formalities
and controls pursuant
the Modernised
Customs Code results in records on the imports and exports of
goods not being available at customs authorities, the economic
operator to whom the simplification was granted shall provide
the statistical data defined in Article 5 of this Regulation.

to Article 116 of

3. Member States may continue to use other data sources for
the compilation of
their national statistics until the date of
implementation of a mechanism for mutual data exchange by
electronic means referred to in Article 7(2).

For

specific goods or movements as

4.
referred to in
Article 3(3), data sources other than the customs declaration
can be used.

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5.
The measures designed to amend non-essential elements
of this Regulation, inter alia by supplementing it, relating to the
data collection according to paragraphs 2 and 4 of this Article,
shall be adopted in accordance with the regulatory procedure
with scrutiny referred to in Article 11(3). These measures shall
take the utmost account of the necessity to set up an efficient
system which would minimise the administrative burden on
economic operators and administrations.

2.
The measures designed to amend non-essential elements
of this Regulation, by supplementing it, relating to further speci-
fication of the data referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article,
including the codes to be used, shall be adopted in accordance
with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny referred to in
Article 11(3).

3. Where not otherwise stated and without prejudice to
customs legislation, the data shall be contained in the customs
declaration.

Article 5

Statistical data

1. Member States shall obtain the following set of data from
records on imports and exports referred to in Article 3(1):

(a) the trade flow (import, export);

(b) the monthly reference period;

(c) the statistical value of the goods at the national border of

the importing or exporting Member States;

(d) the quantity expressed in net mass and in a supplementary

unit if indicated on the customs declaration;

(e) the trader, being the importer/consignee on import and the

exporter/consignor on export;

(f) the importing or exporting Member State, being the
Member State where the customs declaration is lodged, if
indicated on the customs declaration:

(i) on import, the Member State of destination;

(ii) on export, the Member State of actual export;

(g) the partner countries, that is:

(i) on import, the country of origin and the country of

consignment/dispatch;

For

specific goods or movements as

4.
referred to in
Article 3(3) and data provided in accordance with Article 4(2),
limited sets of data may be required.

The measures designed to amend non-essential elements of this
Regulation, by supplementing it, relating to these limited sets of
data, shall be adopted in accordance with the regulatory proce-
dure with scrutiny referred to in Article 11(3).

Article 6

Compilation of external trade statistics

1. Member States shall compile for each monthly reference
period statistics on imports and exports of goods expressed in
value and quantity by:

(a) goods code;

(b) importing/exporting Member States;

(c) partner countries;

(d) statistical procedure;

(e) nature of the transaction;

(f) preferential treatment on import;

(ii) on export, the country of last known destination;

(g) mode of transport.

(h) the goods according to the Combined Nomenclature, being:

(i) on import, the goods code of the Taric subheading;

(ii) on export, the goods code of the Combined Nomencla-

ture subheading;

(i) the customs procedure code to be used for determining the

statistical procedure;

(j) the nature of the transaction if indicated on the customs

declaration;

(k) the preferential

treatment on import where granted by

customs authorities;

(l) the invoicing currency if indicated on the customs declara-

tion;

(m) the mode of transport, detailing:

(i) the mode of transport at the frontier;

(ii) the internal mode of transport;

(iii) the container.

Implementing provisions for compiling the statistics may be
determined by the Commission in accordance with the proce-
dure referred to in Article 11(2).

2. Member States shall compile annual statistics on trade by
business characteristics, namely the economic activity carried
out by the enterprise according to the section or two-digit level
of the common statistical classification of economic activities in
the European Community (NACE) and size-class measured in
terms of number of employees.

The statistics shall be compiled by linking data on business char-
acteristics recorded according to Regulation (EC) No 177/2008
with the data recorded according to Article 5(1) of this Regu-
lation on imports and exports. To this end, national customs
identification
shall provide the relevant
authorities
number to national statistical authorities.

traders'

The measures designed to amend non-essential elements of this
Regulation, by supplementing it, relating to the linking of the
data and these statistics to be compiled, shall be adopted in
accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny referred
to in Article 11(3).

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Every two years Member States shall compile statistics on

3.
trade broken down by invoicing currency.

3.
Implementing provisions for determining the transmission
referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article may be determined in
accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 11(2).

Member States shall compile the statistics using a representative
sample of
records on imports and exports from customs
declarations which contain the data on the invoicing currency. If
the invoicing currency for exports is not available on the
customs declaration, a survey shall be carried out to collect the
required data.

The measures designed to amend non-essential elements of this
Regulation, inter alia by supplementing it, relating to the charac-
teristics of the sample, the reporting period and the level of
aggregation for partner countries, goods and currencies, shall be
adopted in accordance with the regulatory procedure with scru-
tiny referred to in Article 11(3).

Article 8

Transmission of external trade statistics to the Commission
(Eurostat)

1. Member States shall transmit to the Commission (Eurostat)
the statistics referred to in Article 6(1) no later than 40 days
after the end of each monthly reference period.

Member States shall ensure that the statistics contain informa-
tion on all imports and exports in the reference period in ques-
tion, making adjustments where records are not available.

4.
The compilation by Member States of additional statistics
for national purposes may be determined where the data are
available on the customs declaration.

Member States shall transmit updated statistics when statistics
already transmitted are subject to revisions.

5. Member States shall not be obliged to compile and
transmit to the Commission (Eurostat) external trade statistics
on statistical data which, according to the Customs Code or to
national instructions, are not yet recorded nor can be straight-
forwardly deduced from other data on the customs declaration
lodged at their customs authorities. The transmission of the
following data is therefore optional for Member States:

(a) on import, the Member State of destination;

(b) on export, the Member State of actual export;

(c) the nature of the transaction.

Article 7

Data exchange

1. Without delay and at
the latest during the month
following the month the customs declarations were accepted or
to decisions by customs pertaining to them,
were subject
national statistical authorities shall obtain from customs authori-
ties the records on imports and exports based on the declara-
tions which are lodged with those authorities.

The records shall contain at least those statistical data listed in
Article 5 which are, according to the Customs Code or to
national instructions, available on the customs declaration.

from the date of

implementation of a
2. With effect
mechanism for mutual data exchange by electronic means,
customs authorities shall ensure that records on imports and
exports are transmitted to the national statistical authority of
the Member State which is indicated on the record as:

(a) on import, the Member State of destination;

(b) on export, the Member State of actual export.

Member States shall
Commission (Eurostat) any statistical
confidential.

include in the results transmitted to the
information which is

The measures designed to amend non-essential elements of this
Regulation, inter alia by supplementing it, relating to the adapta-
tion of the deadline for transmitting statistics, content, coverage
and revision conditions for the statistics already transmitted,
shall be adopted in accordance with the regulatory procedure
with scrutiny referred to in Article 11(3).

2.
The measures designed to amend non-essential elements
of this Regulation, by supplementing it, relating to the deadline
for transmitting statistics on trade by business characteristics
referred to in Article 6(2) and statistics on trade broken down
by invoicing currency referred to in Article 6(3), shall be
adopted in accordance with the regulatory procedure with scru-
tiny referred to in Article 11(3).

3. Member States shall transmit the statistics in electronic
form, in accordance with an interchange standard. The practical
arrangements for the transmission of the results may be deter-
mined in accordance with the procedure referred to in
Article 11(2).

Article 9

Quality assessment

For the purpose of this Regulation, the following quality

1.
dimensions shall apply to the statistics to be transmitted:

(a) ‘relevance’ refers to the degree to which statistics meet

current and potential needs of the users;

(b) ‘accuracy’

refers

to the closeness of estimates

to the

unknown true values;

(c) ‘timeliness’ refers to the delay between the availability of the
information and the event or phenomenon it describes;

The mechanism for mutual data exchange shall be implemented
at the latest when Title 1, Chapter 2, Section 1 of the Moder-
nised Customs Code is applicable.

(d) ‘punctuality’ refers to the delay between the date of release
of the data and the target date when it should have been
delivered;

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(e) ‘accessibility’ and ‘clarity’ refer to the conditions and modal-

ities by which users can obtain, use and interpret data;

(f) ‘comparability’ refers to the measurement of the impact of
differences in applied statistical concepts and measurement
tools and procedures when statistics are compared between
geographical areas, sectoral domains or over time;

(g) ‘coherence’ refers to the adequacy of the data to be reliably

combined in different ways and for various uses.

2. Member States shall provide the Commission (Eurostat)
with a report on the quality of the statistics transmitted every
year.

3.
In applying the quality dimensions laid down in para-
graph 1 of this Article to the statistics covered by this Regu-
lation, the modalities and structure of the quality reports shall
be defined in accordance with the procedure referred to in
Article 11(2).

The Commission (Eurostat) shall assess the quality of the statis-
tics transmitted.

Article 10

Dissemination of external trade statistics

1.
At Community level, external trade statistics compiled in
accordance with Article 6(1) and transmitted by the Member
States shall be disseminated by the Commission (Eurostat) by
the Combined Nomenclature subheading at least.

Only where an importer or exporter so requests shall
the
national authorities of a given Member State decide whether the
external trade statistics of that Member State which may make it
possible to identify that importer or exporter are to be dissemi-
nated or are to be amended in such a way that their dissemina-
tion does not prejudice statistical confidentiality.

2. Without prejudice to data dissemination at national level,
detailed statistics by the Taric subheading and preferences shall
their
not be disseminated by the Commission (Eurostat)

if

disclosure would undermine the protection of the public interest
as regards the commercial and agricultural policies of
the
Community.

Article 11

Committee procedure

The Commission shall be assisted by the Committee on
1.
statistics relating to the trading of goods with non-member
countries.

2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Articles 5 and
7 of Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply, having regard to the
provisions of Article 8 thereof.

The period laid down in Article 5(6) of Decision 1999/468/EC
shall be set at three months.

3. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Article 5a(1)
to (4), and Article 7 of Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply,
having regard to the provisions of Article 8 thereof.

Article 12

Repeal

Regulation (EC) No 1172/95 shall be repealed with effect from
1 January 2010.

It shall continue to apply to data pertaining to reference periods
before 1 January 2010.

Article 13

Entry into force

This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day
following
the
European Union.

its publication in the Official

Journal

of

It shall apply from 1 January 2010.

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

Done at, …

For the European Parliament

The President

…

For the Council

The President

…

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STATEMENT OF THE COUNCIL'S REASONS

I. INTRODUCTION

The Commission submitted the above-mentioned proposal to the Council on 30 October 2007 (1).

The European Parliament delivered its Opinion at
35 amendments (2) to the proposal.

first

reading on 23 September 2008, with

Under the co-decision procedure (Article 251 TEC), on 16 February 2009 the Council, having regard to
Parliament's first reading, adopted its Common Position on the draft Regulation.

II. OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this proposal is to revise the current statistical system of trade in goods with non-
member countries (Extrastat) in order to:

— make the legislation clearer, simpler and more transparent;

— adjust the system of extra-Community trade statistics to the changes to be introduced in the proce-
dures regarding the customs declaration through the introduction of Single Authorisations for use of
the simplified declaration or the local clearance procedure as well as through centralised clearance
under the modernised Community Customs Code;

— reduce the ‘Rotterdam effect’ resulting

(a) in an over-representation in external trade statistics of Member States having a high level of
customs clearance or export but playing only the role of transit countries to the detriment of the
Member States of actual destination or dispatch of the goods and

(b) in a double reporting of the same goods in Extrastat as non Community goods and then in
Intrastat as Community goods coming from another MS, with a comparable situation at export;

— increase the relevance, accuracy, timeliness and comparability of external trade statistics, and establish

a system for quality assessment;

— support the linking of trade statistics with business statistics;

— respond to user needs by compiling additional trade statistics using information available in customs

declarations;

— control,

in line with the European Statistics Code of Practice, the privileged access to sensitive

external trade data.

The proposal incorporates also the amendments provided for in the Regulation to improve the security
and safety of goods crossing Community borders that the Council and Parliament adopted on 13 April
2005 (3).

III. ANALYSIS OF THE COMMON POSITION

1. General

The Council, in its Common Position, took on board a large majority of Parliament's amendments,
adopting a text which is very similar to the position of the European Parliament in first reading. The
Council fully shares the proposal's objective, which is to make the legislation simpler, to adjust the
system of extra-Community trade statistics to the changes to be introduced in customs legislation
and procedures and to reduce the ‘Rotterdam effect’. After a thorough examination of the proposal
during the SI and FR Presidencies, and in the light of the practical implications of the implementation
of the Modernised Customs Code, for national administrations, the Commission and trade, the
Council made a number of changes, mostly of technical nature, an overview of which is provided in
section 3.

(1) OJ L 145 of 4.6.2008, p. 1.
(2) 8 amendments (No 1-4, 8, 16, 17 and 19) did not concern all linguistic versions and were therefore not put to vote.
(3) Regulation (EC) No 648/2005 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 April 2005 amending Council Regu-

lation (EEC) No 2913/92 establishing the Community Customs Code, OJ L 117, 4.5.2005, p. 13.

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2. EP Amendments

2.1. Amendments taken on board by the Council

The European Parliament adopted 27 amendments (1) to the proposal, out of which 24 have
been taken on board, totally or in part, in the Council's Common Position. These are amend-
ments 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12 (in part), 13, 14 (in part), 15 (in part), 20, 21 (in part), 22, 23, 24,
25, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32 (in part) 33, 34 and 35.

2.2. Amendments not or partially taken on board by the Council

Amendment 12

This amendment has been partially taken on board, albeit with a more precise wording that the
Council considers more appropriate, concerning the description of the exemption regarding oral
declarations of goods.

Amendment 14

This amendment has been partially taken on board. With regard to the provision on imple-
menting measures (new paragraph 5 in the Council's text), the Council considers that the imple-
menting powers should concern the collection of data in (new) paragraphs and paragraph 4: the
specification of data sources other than the customs declaration, and also statistical data
provided by the economic operator benefiting from further simplification of customs formalities
and control. In addition, the Council has underlined the necessity of setting up an efficient
system minimising the administrative burden.

Amendment 15

The Council can partly take on board this amendment. Other data sources may continue to be
used by Member States for the compilation of their national statistics until the date of imple-
mentation of a mechanism for mutual data exchange, The reference to Article 7, paragraph 3
has been changed to Article 7 paragraph 2.

Amendment 18

The Council considers that a more precise wording would be more appropriate (see section 3).

Amendment 21

The Council considers that limited sets of data may also be required for data provided according
to Article 4(2) (in the text of the Common Position).

Amendment 26

The Council considers that, with effect from the date of implementation of a mechanism for
mutual data by electronic means, records on imports and exports should be transmitted to the
national statistical authority of the Member State indicated on the record as the Member State
of destination, at import, or the Member State of actual export, at export.

Amendment 27

The Council has not taken on board this amendment but has provided for an alternative solu-
tion under Article 4(2) (in the text of the Common Position — see section 3).

Amendment 32

The Council has partially taken this amendment on board, with a slight rewording (‘by Taric
subheading and preferences’).

3. New elements introduced by the Council

The present section provides an overview of the new elements introduced by the Council
in its
Common Position, in addition to the EP amendments taken on board. This overview deliberately
leaves aside those new elements of a purely technical or drafting nature.

(1) Cf. footnote 2.

C 75 E/66

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

31.3.2009

It should also be noted that the changes introduced by the Council have led to a restructuring of the
proposal and a subsequent re-numbering of recitals and of paragraphs in some articles.

3.1 Recital 3

This recital explains that, following the introduction in the Modernised Customs Code of facilita-
tions for operators, in the form of simplifications of formalities and controls, customs declara-
tions might not be available; where such declarations are the source of statistical data on external
trade, the Regulation must lay down measures that will ensure that data will be provided by
operators which are granted facilitations.

3.2 Recital 4

This Recital makes a reference to the ‘e-customs’ Decision, on the basis of which an electronic
customs system for the exchange of customs declaration data is being set-up. It is intended that
the data exchange system used for statistics will benefit as far as possible from the infrastructure
established by the Customs authorities.

3.3 Article 4(2)

This new paragraph lays down the principle that operators granted facilitations which might lead
to the non availability of customs declarations and the pertaining statistical data should provide
these statistical data.

3.4 Article 4(5)

The Council has added a sentence in view of making sure that the administrative burden on
trade and administrations, arising from the data collection process, would be minimised.

3.5 Article 5(4)

The Council has added a reference to the data provided under Article 4(2).

3.6 Article 7(2)

The Council in its Common Position has not taken on board EP amendment No 26 (as explained
under Section 2), as it considers that, from the date of implementation of the exchange data
mechanism by electronic means, data should be transmitted by the customs authorities to the
national statistical authority of the Member State (of destination or of actual export). In addition,
the Council considers that the above mechanism should be implemented at the latest when the
relevant section of the Modernised Customs Code will be applicable.

IV. CONCLUSION

The Council considers that its Common Position, resulting from a thorough examination of the proposal
during two Presidencies, and fully supported by the Commission, is entirely in line with the objectives
of the proposal.

In addition, the Common Position takes on board the large majority of Parliament's amendments.

The new elements introduced by the Council reflect the need to adapt the text to the practical and tech-
nical realities and to better balance the requirements of the national administrations and the customs
facilitations granted to trade.