CELEX: 51991PC0018
Language: en
Date: 1991-02-07
Title: AMENDMENT TO THE PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) ON THE STATISTICS RELATING TO THE TRADING OF GOODS BETWEEN MEMBER STATES

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
                                                                C0M(91) 18 final - SYN 181
                                                                Brussels, 7 February 1991
                                            Amendment to the proposal for a
                                                COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC)
                  on the statistics relating to the trading of goods between Member States
                                (presented by the Commission pursuant to Article 149(3)
                                                   of the EEC-Treaty)
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 ---pagebreak---                                 Explanatory memorandum
1. The European Parliament has examined at first reading the proposal for a Council
   Regulation (EEC) on the statistics relating to the trading of goods between Member
   States presented by the Commission on 11 January 1989 and amended by it on 17 May
   and 24 September 1990; Parliament has adopted a series of amendments and has again
   asked the Commission to amend its proposal.
2. Of the amendments that the Commission can accept, four relate solely to form, one
   underlines the utility of statistics, and three emphasize the rôle that Parliament wishes to
   play in the future regulation of statistics on the internal market.
3. The amendment concerning statistical thresholds makes it possible both to include in the
   basic regulations a minimum limit in absolute figures and to allow the Commission to
   decide, once the appropriate studies have been concluded, how the different parties
   responsible for providing statistical information are to be composed. Furthermore, it
   does not preclude the possibility of adopting suitable provisions for Member States
   whose commercial structure might require special measures.
 ---pagebreak--- Amendment to the proposal for a Council Regulation (EEC) on the
statistics relating to the trading of goods between Member States<1>
(Presented by the Commission on           pursuant to Article 149(3) of
the EEC Treaty)
The Commission presented the above-mentioned proposal to the Council on
24 September 1990. Following the opinion delivered by Parliament at
its sitting on 22 November 1990, the proposal has been amended as
fol lows:
1) add the following text at the end of the fourth recital: "and this
     kind of information could prove to be one of the means, among
    others, of assessing the development of economic and social
    cohesion*,";
2) delete the section In the seventh recital beginning "In order to
     prevent Member States from replacing ...." and ending "....
    whatever their customs and tax status or the cause of their being
    moved ;";
3) add "Including electric current" to the end of Article 2(b);
4)   in Article 4(1)(d), add "In cooperation with the European
     Parliament" after ".... shall determine";
5)   replace the text of Article 14 by the following:
     "Failure by any party responsible for providing statistical
     Information to fulfil his obligations under this Regulation shall
     be penalized by the Member States In accordance with their national
     provisions.";
6)   In Article 16 replace "The Commission shall report to the Council
     on the functioning of the Intrastat system ...." by "The Commission
     shall report to the Council and the European Parliament on the
     functioning of the Intrastat system ....";
7)   delete Article 17(2);
8)   add "In cooperation with the European Parliament" to the end of
     Article 27;
 (1) 0J No C 254, 9.10.1990, p. 7.
 ---pagebreak---                                                                        H
9) add the following second paragraph to Article 28(3):
   "The total accumulated levels of, firstly, the exclusion thresholds
   and, secondly, the simplification thresholds fixed by the
   Commission pursuant to paragraph 2 must be at least ECU 100 000,
   expressed In annual values of Intra-Communlty trade operations,
   except where In a given Member State the combined effects of these
   thresholds would entail, either on dispatch or on arrival, a loss
   of the Information provided for In Articles 21, 22 and 23 exceeding
   by one-third or more the average loss of the other Member states.".
 ---pagebreak---        Statement» describing the Impact on SUE» «nH ™  —>«ft">"*
The Impact statements annexed to the initial proposal and to the two
amended proposals continue to apply. However, the following comments
are rendered necessary following the amendment of Article 28.
1. Administrâtlva obligations on enterprises arising from the
    application of the, legislation
    The amendment to Article 28(3) clarifies further the obligation to
    make a detailed statistical return, an obligation which will
    henceforth apply only to undertakings whose annual Intra-Communlty
    trade operations, on dispatch or on arrival, exceed the minimum
    threshold of ECU 100 000.
2.  Advantages for tha enterprise / 3.   Disadvantages for the
    enterprise
    As a result, all enterprises below the threshold at which a
    detailed statistical return Is required will benefit from a degree
    of exemption or simplification, and the limit between the different
    categories will be fixed by the Commission after It has examined
    the results of studies In progress In the nine Member States on the
    concentration of enterprises In the trade between Member States. A
    safeguard clause has nevertheless had to be provided to guarantee
    that all Member States receive a satisfactory level of statistical
     Information, irrespective of their economic structure.
 ---pagebreak---  ---pagebreak---                                                                                ISSN 0254-1475 G
                                                                   COM(91) 18 final
                                                      DOCUMENTS
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                                Catalogue number : CB-CO-91-046-EN-C
                                                               ISBN 92-77-69246-4
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