CELEX: 51991PC0115
Language: en
Date: 1991-04-30
Title: MODIFICATION TO THE PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL REGULATION ( EEC ) CONCERNING ADMINISTRATIVE COOPERATION IN THE FIELD OF INDIRECT TAXATION

IOMVIISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
                                                          C0MC91) 115      final - SYN 275
                                                           Brussels, 30 April 1991
                        M o d i f i c a t i o n t o t h e proposal f o r a
                                CQWCIL RfiÇW^TIOW (EEC)
               concerning a d m i n i s t r a t i v e c o o p e r a t i o n i n t h e
                              f i e l d of i n d i r e c t t a x a t i o n
    ( p r e s e n t e d by t h e Commission pursuant t o A r t i c l e 149(3)
                                       of t h e EEC-Treaty)
 ---pagebreak---                        EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM     ^
   On 19 June 1990 the Coromission presented & proposal^*) to
   the   Council    for    a   Council    Regulation    concerning
   administrative cooperation in the fiejjâ of indirect
   taxation.                                     |§
|   The Opinion^2) of the Economic and Social. Committee was
1  given on 19 September 1990.          The Economic and Social
I  Committee endorsed the purpose and cjontent of the
\  proposed Regulation, though it disputed the legal base
\  and the use of a Regulation.
{  The Parliamentary report(3) by the Committee on Economic
|   and   Monetary    Affairs    and    Industrial   Policy    gave
|   favourable    support     to    the    Commission    proposal,
|   particularly concerning the legal base (Article 100A) and
I  the reinforcement of the role of the Commission in
I  applying the administrative cooperation procedures.           On
!   22   November    1990    the   European     Parliament    voted
!   unanimously in favour of the report.              Of the six
{   amendments proposed by the European Parliament the
i] Commission accepts the four which are the subject of this
H  modification paper.
    ^|COM(90) 183 final - SYN 275 O.J. No. C187 of 27.7.90
    (2|ESC Document CES 1014/90 (OJ...)
    (3>EP Document Â3-0279/90 (OJ ...)
 ---pagebreak---                              - 1 -
  Modifications to the proposal for a COUNCIL REGULATION
   concerning administrative cooperation in the field of
                     indirect taxation
  (presented by the Commission in accordance with Article
              149, paragraph 3 of the Treaty)
Original text                            Modified text
              Preamble and Article 1 unchanged
                        Article 2
               Paragraphs 1 and 2 unchanged.
                                         3. The Commission
                                         shall publish
                                         and, where
                                         necessary, update
                                         in the Official
                                         Journal the list
                                         of competent
                                         authorities.
                 Articles 3 to 6 unchanged
                       Article 7
1. At the request of an applicant        1. At the request
authority, two or more of the            of an applicant
administrative authorities               authority, two or
referred to in Article 2 shall           more of the
consult together for the purposes        administrative
of determining cases and procedures      authorities
for coordinated tax examinations.        referred to in
Each authority involved shall            Article 2 shall
decide whether or not it wishes          consult together
to participate in a particular           for the purposes
coordinated tax examination.             of determining
                                         cases and pro-
                                         cedures for co-
                                         ordinated tax
                                         examinations.
                                         Each authority
                                         involved shall
                                         decide whether
                                         or not it wishes
                                         to participate
                                         in a particular
                                         coordinated tax
                                         examination;
                                         should it decide
 ---pagebreak---                           - 2 -
                                      not to
                                      participate, it
                                      shall forward a
                                       justification to
                                      the applicant
                                      authority and
                                       also notify the
                                       Commission.
2.  Unchanged
               Articles 8-18 unchanged
                     Article 19 (new)
                                       The procedures for
                                       the practical
                                       application and
                                       the operation of
                                       the arrangements
                                       for administrative
                                       co-operation pro-
                                       vided for in this
                                       regulation, as well
                                       as the procedures
                                       covering standard
                                       practices for the
                                       validation and
                                       verification of
                                       intra-Community
                                       transactions,
                                       shall be laid
                                       down according to
                                       the methods
                                       covered by
                                       Article 20(2).
              Article 19 becomes Article 20
1. The Commission shall organize       1. The Commission
meetings with the representatives      shall be assisted
of the Member States during which      by an advisory
- the operation of the                 committee, composed
arrangements for administrative        of £he representa-
cooperation provided for in            tives from Member
this Regulation shall be               States and chaired
examined in general terms, with        by a Commission
particular regard to the               representative, and
development of standard practices      be called "Standing
for the validation and                 Committee on
verification of intra-Community        Administrative co-
transactions,                          operation in the
                                       field of indirect
- common practical procedures          taxation".
for forwarding the information
 ---pagebreak--- referred to in Article 3 shall be 2. (a) The
laid down, taking due account of  representative of
any agreements under Article 11,  the Commission
                                  shall submit to
- the information sent to the     the Committee a
Commission pursuant to Article 3  draft of the
shall be examined with a view to  measures to be
drawing the relevant              taken. The
conclusions, determining the      committee shall
measures required to put an       deliver its
end to any operations found       opinion on the
to be contrary to the law on      draft within the
indirect tax matters and, where   time limit which
necessary, suggesting             the chairman may
amendments to existing Community  lay down according
provisions on the drawing up of   to the urgency of
additional ones,                  the matter if
                                  necessary by
- cases and procedures            taking a vote;
concerning coordinated tax
examinations provided for in      (b) the opinion of
Article 7. shall be examined      the committee
discussed.                        shall be recorded
                                  in the minutes; in
                                  addition each
                                  Member State shall
                                  have the right to
                                  ask to have its
                                  position recorded
                                  in the minutes;
                                  (c) the Commission
                                  shall take the
                                  utmost account of
                                  the opinion
                                  delivered by the
                                  committee, it
                                  shall inform the
                                  committee of the
                                  manner in which
                                  its opinion has to
                                  be taken into
                                  account.
                                  3. Within the
                                  framework of the
                                  Committee provided
                                  for in paragraph 1,
                                  the Member States
                                  shall monitor and
                                  evaluate the
                                  operation of the
                                  co-operation pro-
                                  cedures provided
                                  for in Article 19
                                  and pool their
                                  experience,
                                  especially con-
 ---pagebreak---                                 4 -
                                      ceriûng new means
                                      or methods of tax
                                      avoidance or
                                      evasion, with a
                                      view to improving
                                      such co-operation
                                      and, where
                                      appropriate,
                                      drawing up new
                                       rules.
      Article 19, paragraphs 2 - 5 becomes Article 21
2. On matters of bilateral interest,   Becomes paragraph 1
the competent authorities of the
Member States may communicate
directly with each other. The
competent authorities of the Member
States may, by mutual agreement,
permit authorities designated by
them to communicate directly
with each other in specified
cases or in certain categories
of cases.
3. For the purposes of applying        Becomes paragraph 2
this Article, Member States
shall take all the necessary
steps to:
(a) ensure sound internal
     coordination between the
     competent authorities
     referred to in Article 1;
(b) establish direct co-
     operation between the
     authorities specially
     empowered for the purposes
     of such coordination;
 (c) make suitable arrangements
     for ensuring the smooth
     operation of the arrangements
     for administrative co-
     operation provided for in
     this Regulation, including
     the nomination of a central
     office as required under
     Article 2(2).
4. The Member States shall,               Cancelled,
together with the Commission,
constantly monitor the co-
operation procedure provided
for in this Article and shall
 ---pagebreak---                               - 5-
pool their experience,
especially concerning new
means or methods of tax
avoidance or evasion with a
view to improving such co-
operation and, where
appropriate, drawing up a
body of rules as described
in paragraph 1.
5. The Commission shall             Becomes paragraph 3
communicate to the competent
authorities of each Member
State, as soon as it is
available, any information
which it receives under the
provisions of Article 3, or
any other relevant information
which it is able to supply.
         Article 20 becomes Article 22 (unchanged)
              Article 21 becomes Article 23
                                      1. Every two
                                      years from
                                      the date of
                                      implementation set
                                      out in Article 25,
                                      the Commission
                                      shall draw up a
                                      report for the
                                      Council and
                                      European Parliament
                                      on the conditions
                                      of application of
                                      the present
                                      Regulation, notably
                                      on the basis of the
                                      constant monitoring
                                      procedures provided
                                      for in Article
                                      20(3).
1. Member States shall communicate    Becomes paragraph 2
to the Commission the texts of
any provisions of national law
which they subsequently adopt in
the field covered by this
Regulation.
2. The arrangements provided for      Becomes paragraph 3
by this Regulation do not limit,
nor are they limited by, those
contained in other agreements
or instruments which relate to
 ---pagebreak---                              - 6 -
cooperation in tax matters.
3. This Regulation shall not          Becomes paragraph 4
affect the application in the
Member States of the rules on
mutual assistance in criminal
matters.
     Articles 22-23 become Articles 24-25 (unchanged)
 ---pagebreak---                                                                                ISSN 0254-1475
                                                                COM(91) 115 final
                                                      DOCUMENTS
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                                                               ISBN 92-77-71001-2
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