CELEX: 51985PC0606
Language: en
Date: 1985-11-18
Title: PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL DIRECTIVE IMPOSING A STANDSTILL ON VAT AND EXCISE DUTIES

4.12.85                                 Official Journal of the European Communities                                 No C 313/5
                          Article 8                                                              Article 9
 1.   Where the procedure laid down in this Article is to            Directive 72/462/EEC is hereby amended as follows:
be used, matters shall without delay be referred by the              1. The following is added to Article 6:
chairman, either on his own initiative or at the request of             '2.    Member States shall not authorize the im-
 a Member State, to the Standing Veterinary Committee                   portation of animals covered by this Directive to
 (hereinafter called 'the Committee') set up by the                     which have been administered, by any means
 Council Decision of 15 October 1968.                                   whatsoever, substances having a thyrostatic action or
                                                                        substances having an oestrogenic, androgenic and
                                                                        gestagenic action, with the exception of those animals
2.    The representative of the Commission shall submit                 which have been treated for therapeutic purposes with
to the Committee a draft of the measures to be adopted.                 substances authorized for use to that end in
The Committee shall deliver its opinion on the draft                    accordance with Community provisions.'
within a time limit which the Chairman may lay down
according to the urgency of the matter. The opinion                  2. Article 20 (b) (i) is replaced by the following:
shall be delivered by a majority of forty-five votes, the               '(b) fresh meat:
votes of the Member States being weighted as provided                        (i) — from animals to which have been
for in Article 148 (2) of the Treaty. The Chairman shall                             administered, by any means whatsoever,
not vote.                                                                            stilbenes or stilbene derivatives, their salts
                                                                                     or esters, or trenbolone or zeranol, or
                                                                                     thyrostatic substances; and
3.    The Commission shall adopt the measures and                                — from animals to which have been
implement them immediately where they are in                                         administered, by any means whatsoever,
accordance with the opinion of the Committee. Where                                  other substances having an oestrogenic,
they are not in accordance with the opinion of the                                   androgenic or gestagenic action, with the
Committee or if no opinion is delivered, the Commission                              exception of those animals which have
shall immediately submit to the Council a proposal on                               been treated for therapeutic purposes with
the meaures to be taken. The Council shall act by a                                  substances authorized for use to that end
qualified majority.                                                                  in      accordance     with      Community
                                                                                    provisions.'
If within three months of the date on which a matter was                                        Article 10
referred to it the Council has not adopted any measures,
the Commission shall adopt the proposed measures and                This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 January 1986.
implement them immediately, save where the Council                  This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and
has decided against the measures by a simple majority.              directly applicable in all Member States.
                       Proposal for a Council Directive imposing a standstill on VAT and excise duties
                                                         COM(85) 606 final
                             (Submitted by the Commission to the Council on 21 November 1985)
                                                          (85/C 313/06)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES;                            away with the remission of tax on exportation and the
                                                                    imposition of tax on importation and with frontier
                                                                    controls on taxable persons as well as on private persons;
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Economic Community, and in particular Article 99
thereof,
                                                                    Whereas if distortions are to be avoided, such abolition
                                                                    implies in the case of value added tax, a uniform tax
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,                  base, the same number of rates and rate levels which are
                                                                    sufficiently close as between Member States;
Having regard to the opinion of the European Par-
liament,
                                                                    Whereas the attainment of this objective, in the case of
                                                                    excise duties, requires that the scope and structures of
Whereas the completion of the internal market, which is             the most important excises be harmonized and their rates
one of the fundamental objectives of the Community,                 brought sufficiently close together; whereas provision
necessitates the abolition of fiscal frontiers, that is, doing      should be made to abolish other excise duties, except for
 ---pagebreak---  No C 313/6                             Official Journal of the European Communities                                   4.12.85
 those which do not give rise to frontier adjustments or           (a) Member States whose standard rate is below the
controls, either because of their nature or because of a                midpoint between the lowest and highest standard
decision of the Member State levying the duty;                          rates in force anywhere in the Community at the
                                                                        date of adoption of this Decision, may increase that
Whereas the measures required to bring about those                      rate towards, but not above, the aforementioned
conditions must be spread over a period of time, but                    midpoint;
whereas there is an immediate need not only to avoid               (b) Member States whose standard rate is above the
 accentuation of the present divergences between Member                 aforementioned midpoint, may reduce that rate
States' fiscal systems but also to encourage their                      towards but not below that midpoint;
convergence;
                                                                   (c) Member States which apply an additional rate or
"Whereas for this purpose it is necessary for Member                    rates higher than their standard rate may reduce the
States to refrain from changing the number and levels of                level of the highest such rate;
value added tax rates; whereas, however, it is desirable
that the Member States be allowed, should they wish, to            (d) Member States which apply an additional rate or
adjust the number and levels of rates they apply in such a              rates lower than their standard rate may adjust their
way as to reduce the current wide spread within the                     lowest such rate towards but not .beyond the
Community;                                                              midpoint of the range of such lowest rates in force
                                                                        anywhere in the Community at the date of adoption
Whereas the only excise duties which have to be main-                   of this Directive.
tained at Community level are those on manufactured
tobacco, alcoholic beverages and mineral oils; whereas             4.     For the purposes of this Directive, the standard rate
Member States must therefore undertake not to                      shall be either,
introduce new excise duties or to raise the rates or
enlarge the scope of other excise duties which already             (a) the single rate, in the case of Member States which
exist; whereas Member States should, however, be left                   apply one rate; or
free to introduce excise duties which do not require
frontier adjustments or controls,
                                                                   (b) the rate from which most value added tax revenue is
                                                                        obtained, in the case of Member States which apply
HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:                                             several rates.
                          Article 1                                                           Article 2
           Provisions relating to value added tax                                Provisions relating to excise duties
1.     Member States shall refrain from making any                 1.     Member States shall refrain from introducing new
changes to the number and level of rates which they                excise duties giving rise, in trade between Member
apply as at the date of this Directive except as provided          States, to taxation on importation and remission of tax
for in paragraphs 2 and 3.                                         on exportation or to frontier controls.
2.     Without prejudice to the eventual Decision to be            2.     Member States shall refrain from increasing the
taken on the number of rates that may ultimately be                rates or enlarging the scope of those excise duties which
applied within the Community,                                      give rise to taxation on importation and remission of tax
                                                                   on exportation or to frontier controls.
(a) Member States which apply more than three rates
     may reduce that number to three;
                                                                   3.     The provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2 do not apply
(b) Member States which apply a single rate may                    to the excise duties on manufactured tobacco, alcoholic
     increase that number to two.                                  beverages and mineral oils.
3.     Without prejudice to the eventual Directive to be                                      Article 3
taken on the level of rates that may ultimately be applied
within the Community,                                              This Directive is addressed to the Member States.