CELEX: 51973PC1234
Language: en
Date: 1973-08-01
Title: PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL DIRECTIVE ON THE HARMONIZATION OF EXCISE DUTIES ON MINERAL OILS

N o C 92/36                         Official Journal of the European Communities                             31. 10. 73
               Proposal for a Council Directive on the harmonization of excise duties on mineral oils
                           (Submitted to the Council by the Commission on 9 August 1973)
                                                               trate on harmonizing the structure      of  the   excise
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES*
                                                               duties;
Having regard to the provisions of the Treaty estab-
lishing the European Economic Community and in                 Whereas this harmonization of structures should prin-
particular Article 99 thereof;                                 cipally bear on a definition of the chargeable pro-
                                                               ducts, the chargeable event giving rise to the excise
                                                               duty, the conditions under which the duty becomes
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission;             due, the import and export system and finally a cer-
                                                               tain number of compulsory exemptions from duty;
Having regard to the Opinion of the European Par-
liament;
                                                               Whereas a specific consumption tax should not have
                                                               the effect of a production tax which could distort
                                                               competition between Community industries and
Having regard to the Opinion of the Economic and               affect trade both within the Community and with
 Social Committee;                                             third countries, mineral oils used as a raw material
                                                               or a manufacturing agent should have no excise duty
                                                               imposed upon them; whereas it seems justified for
Whereas the creation of a common market which has              these reasons to exempt industrial heating oils,
similar characteristics to that of a domestic market           namely heavy oils other than gas oils and mineral oils
implies that conditions of competition are not distor-         used for lubrication, from the excise duty; whereas
ted and that persons, property, services and capital           the exemption of industrial heating oils is also moti-
can circulate without hindrance; whereas this aim              vated by the object of the Community energy policy
was explicitly confirmed in the Council Resolution             which aims at setting up as far as possible an impar-
of 22 March 1971 concerning the realization of                 tial tax system with regard to all the sources of
monetary and economic union by stages and whereas              primary energy;
 this aim was recognized as necessary for the estab-
 lishment of this union;
                                                               Whereas it appears that for budgetary reasons Mem-
Whereas the excise duties at present imposed on the            ber States should be free to continue to tax industrial
 consumption of mineral oils are not always impartial          heating fuels and lubricants as long as trade between
 from the point of view of competition; whereas the            Member States is subject to taxes on imports and
 disparity of charges they imply among Member States           rebate of taxes on exports;
 necessitates the maintenance of taxes on imports, tax
 refunds and frontier controls;
                                                               Whereas the setting up of a common system for
                                                               mineral oils in air navigation, internal shipping and
 Whereas this situation constitutes an obstacle to the         in the agricultural sector requires further detailed
 free movement of mineral oil between Member States            study; in these circumstances the Member States
 without distortion of competition and whereas owing           should be given the opportunity to maintain for the
 to this fact it is an obstacle to the realization of the       time being the systems they presently apply;
 common market and the economic and monetary
 union; whereas the necessary measures should there-
 fore be taken to eliminate these disadvantages;
                                                               Whereas, notwithstanding the fact that Member
                                                               States may fix the rates of the excise duty freely and
                                                               independently, where preferential treatment systems
 Whereas free movement between the Member States
                                                               are granted to certain consumers this must be the
 and a system ensuring that conditions of competition
                                                               subject of a consultation procedure;
 are not distorted can only be realized by harmonizing
 at Community level the excise duties imposed on the
 consumption of mineral oils; whereas duties should
 therefore be harmonized progressively and to this             Whereas to ensure uniform conditions of competition
 end it is opportune during the first stage to concen-         at Community level the means of collection and con-
 ---pagebreak--- 31.10. 73                             Off.ioial Journal of the European Communities                            N o C 92/37
trol of excise duty should be harmonized between the              (e) products falling within heading N o 27.11 of the
Member States as much as necessary;                                    CCT, excluding natural gas and methane;
                                                                  (f) products falling within heading N o 27.12 of the
Whereas it is essential to ensure that the provisions                  CCT;
of this Directive are implemented in a coordinated
manner and it is therefore indispensable to provide               (g) products falling within subheading N o 27.13 B
an effective procedure for adopting the necessary                      of the CCT;
implementing measures when the need arises; whereas
the procedure of the Committee on excise duties                   (h) products falling within heading N o 27.14 of the
is such as to permit the adoption of such measures                     CCT with the exception of resinous products,
in a simple and rapid manner;                                         used bleaching earth, acid residues and basic resi-
                                                                       dues;
Whereas in order not to jeopardize harmonization,                 (i) products falling within subheading N o 27.16 B of
mineral oils should not in principle be submitted                      the CCT;
directly or indirectly to any indirect charge other
than the harmonized excise duty and harmonized                    (j) products falling within subheading Nos 29.01 A,
value added tax,                                                       B II and D I to D III of the CCT;
                                                                  (k) products falling within heading N o 34.03 A of
                                                                       the CCT;
HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:                                       (1) products falling within heading No 34.04 of the
                                                                       C C T containing more than 85% by weight of the
                                                                       products designated at (f) or (g) above;
                   I. Field of application                        (m) products falling within subheading N o 38.14 B I
                                                                        of the CCT;
                          Article 1                               (n) products falling within subheading N o 38.14 B
                                                                       III of the CCT containing products listed in this
Member States shall impose on the products listed                       paragraph;
under Article 2, hereinafter called 'mineral oils', and,
within the limits laid down in Article 3, on imported             (o) products falling within N o 38.19 E of the CCT.
products containing mineral oils, a harmonized excise
 duty in accordance with this Directive.
                                                                  2. In addition to the taxable products enumerated
                                                                  in paragraph 1 above, any product intended for use,
                                                                  offered for sale or used as motor fuel for the propul-
                          Article 2                               sion of motor vehicles shall also be taxed as 'mineral
                                                                  oil'.
 1. For the purpose of this Directive the term 'mine-
     ral oils' covers:
                                                                  3. Member States are permitted to include products
                                                                  falling within heading N o 27.09 of the CCT in the
 (a) products falling within subheading N o 27.07 A of            coverage of the excise duty.
     the C C T (Common Customs Tariff) of which
     9 0 % or more of their volume distils at a tem-
     perature up to 210°C and, with the exception of              4. References in paragraphs 1 and 3 above to head-
     crude sulphurated light oil toppings, products               ings and subheadings of the C C T are to those of
     falling within subheading N o 27.07 B of the CCT;            the version of the CCT in force at the time when
                                                                  this Directive comes into operation.
 (b) products falling within subheading N o 27.07 G of
     the CCT utilizable as substitutes for fuel oils;
                                                                                           Article 3
 (c) products falling within heading N o 27.10 of the
     CCT, with the exception of the preparations de-
     fined at (d);                                                 1. The products mentioned in Article 2 (1) sub-
                                                                  paragraphs (d), (k), (1), (m) and (n) used as lubri-
 (d) preparations falling within heading N o 27.10 of             cants, shall only be chargeable with excise duty on
      the C C T which do not possess the qualities necess-        their content of the products mentioned in Article
     ary for use as motor fuel;                                   2 (1) subparagraphs (b), (c) and (f) to (i) and (o).
 ---pagebreak--- N o C 92/38                         Official Journal of the European Communities                           31. 10. 73
2. Imported products which are not mineral oils                subject to a zero rate, as 'establishments producing
but which contain products enumerated in Article               mineral oils'.
2 (1) are chargeable with excise duty in so far as
excise duty is levied on mineral oil contained in
similar national products.                                                             Article 6
Member States may however fix minimum mineral                  Member States shall not be obliged to treat as
oil contents below which no excise duty is levied              'production of mineral oils':
on imports.                                                    (a) operations during which small quantities        of
                                                                   mineral oils are obtained incidentally;
                                                               (b) operations by which the user of a mineral oil
          II. Establishment of the excise duty
                                                                   makes its reutilization possible in his own
                                                                   undertaking provided that the amount of excise
                        Article 4                                  duty already paid on such oil is not lower
                                                                   than the amount of excise duty which would be
                                                                   due were the reused oil to be liable again to the
1. The chargeable event giving rise to the excise                  excise duty;
duty consists in:
                                                               (c) the operation consisting of mixing, outside a
(a) the removal of mineral oils from an establish-                 production establishment or a bonded ware-,
    ment producing mineral oils or, in the cases                   house, mineral oils with other mineral oils or
    provided for in Article 13 (2) and (3), from a                 other materials, provided:
    proviso warehouse;
                                                                   — that excise duty on the components has been
(b) the consumption of mineral oils within the curti-                  paid previously, and
    lage of an establishment producing mineral oils:
                                                                   — that the amount paid is not less than the
    — for purposes not related to that production,                     amount of excise duty which would be
                                                                       chargeable on the mixture.
    — as fuel for the propulsion of motor vehicles;
(c) the importation of mineral oils;                           The first proviso shall not apply where the mixture
                                                               is exempted for a specific use.
(d) the occurrence of one of the events mentioned
    in Article 2 (2).                                          The second proviso shall not apply where com-
                                                               ponents to which different rates apply have to be
2. Member States shall designate the natural or                mixed for technical reasons.
legal person or persons liable to the excise duty.
                                                                                       Article 7
                        Article 5                              For the purposes of this Directive importation
                                                               means the introduction from whatever provenance
1. Without prejudice to the provisions of Article 6,           of a mineral oil into the customs territory of a
an establishment in which the products enumerated              Member State or into a free zone with the exception
in Article 2 (1) are manufactured or subjected to a            of any territories in which the harmonized excise
specific process within the meaning of Additional              duty is not applicable.
Note 5 to Chapter 27 of the CCT.
When a Member State makes use of the option                                            Article 8
provided for in Article 2 (3) the establishment in
which products falling within heading N o 27.09 of             1. Excise duty shall become due:
the C C T are obtained, shall also be valid as an
establishment producing mineral oils.                          — when a mineral oil is put into consumption for
                                                                   a use not covered by an exemption provided for
2. T o facilitate supervision, Member States may                   in Article 9. Mineral oil is regarded as put into
treat as a single production establishment several                 consumption when it is at the free disposal of
or all the production establishments of the same                   a person outside any scheme suspending the
undertaking.                                                       excise duty;
                                                               — when a mineral oil is consumed on the premises
3. Member States shall not be obliged to treat                     of a production establishment for purposes not
establishments in which the only chargeable pro-                   related to that production or as motor fuel for
ducts manufactured are lubricants or heating oils                  the propulsion of motor vehicles;
 ---pagebreak--- 31.10. 73                            Official Journal of the European Communities                               N o C 92/39
— upon the occurrence of one of the chargeable                      subject to any Community provisions subse-
     events mentioned in Article 4 subparagraph (d);                quently adopted to protect the environment or
                                                                    to secure Community energy supplies.
— when it is established that a final use condition
     necessary for the benefit of a reduced rate of
     duty or an exemption is not or is no longer                                         Article 10
      fulfilled;
                                                                1. Without prejudice to subsequent Community
— when lpsses are established which cannot be                   provisions, Member States may maintain the
     justified under the conditions prescribed by the           exemptions or reductions in the rate which they
      Member States.                                            apply at the date when this Directive enters into
                                                                force to mineral oils used under fiscal control:
2. Where an imported mineral oil is subject to the              — for air navigation;
Common Customs Tariff duties or to charges
having equivalent effect and has been introduced                — for internal navigation and coastal navigation;
in the framework of a common policy, the excise                 — for coastal fishing;
duty shall become chargeable at the same time as
such common duties and charges.                                 — for agriculture.
3. A mineral oil which is imported or removed                   2. Without prejudice to other Community pro-
from a production establishment or from a bonded                visions, Member States may furthermore maintain:
warehouse may be transferred without payment of
excise duty and under the supervisions of the fiscal            (a) the exemptions from excise duty which apply,
administration to another production establishment                   under their customs laws, to imports when this
or bonded warehouse.                                                 Directive enters into force in the cases given in
                                                                     the Annex;
4. On a change in one or more rates of the excise
duty stocks of mineral oil put into consumption                 (b) the exemptions from excise duty which they
may be subjected to an increase in or reduction of                  grant, or will grant, under bilateral or multi-
 the excise duty.                                                   lateral conventions or agreements or by unilat-
                                                                     eral measures:
 Rules for recovering the increase or the repayment
 of the excess of the excise duty shall be determined               — to diplomatic missions or consular represen-
 by the Member States.                                                   tations (including trade missions) from other
                                                                         states established in their territories;
                                                                    — to international or intergovernmental insti-
                          Article 9                                      tutions or bodies whose head office is in
                                                                         their territories;
 1. Mineral oils which are exported under fiscal
 control from the territory where the harmonized                     — to the armed forces of other states, stationed
                                                                         in their territories;
 excise duty is applied shall be exempt from excise
 duty. Member States shall lay down the conditions                   — to bodies entrusted by foreign governments
 under which the excise duty which has already been                      with the task of constructing, improving and
 paid shall be reimbursed on exportation.                                 maintaining military cemeteries.
 2. Exemption from excise duty will also apply to:
                                                                                          Article 11
 (a) mineral oils used under fiscal control otherwise
       than as motor fuel or fuel;                               1. Without prejudice to other Community provi-
                                                                 sions Member States shall be free to fix the rates
                                                                 of duty including zero rates. The rates may vary
 (b) gas-oils used under fiscal control as fuel for the
                                                                 depending either on the properties which a charge-
       propulsion of railway vehicles running on pub-
                                                                 able product possesses or on the use to which it is
       lic railway networks;
                                                                 put.
  (c) gases referred to in Article 2 (1) (e) and (j) used
       under fiscal control as fuel;                             2. When a Member State maintains variations in
                                                                 rates in order to benefit certain users other than
  (d) heavy oils, other than gas oils, used under fiscal         those provided for in Article 10, it shall inform the
       control, as fuels; those oils may however be              Commission thereof within one month from the
                                                                                                                *f./
 ---pagebreak---    N o C 92/40                       Official Journal of the European Communities                             31.10. 73
  date when this Directive enters into force. In so              2. In a    bonded warehouse mineral oils may be
  far as shall be necessary the Commission shall con-            blended.   When put into consumption the blend
  sult Member States and give an opinion within                  produced    shall be chargeable with duty at the ap-
  three months.                                                  propriate  rate.
  3. Where a Member State intends to introduce                   3. In a bonded warehouse mineral oils may not
  new variations in rates in order to benefit specific           be mixed with other substances unless the mixture
  users, it shall inform the Commission in good time             produced constitutes a mineral oil within the mean-
  and in writing to that effect.                                 ing of Article 2. The second sentence of paragraph
                                                                 2 above is also applicable, taking into account the
  If the Commission considers it necessary, it may               dispositions of Article 3 if necessary.
  consult the Member States and send the Member
  State concerned an Opinion or a Recommendation
  within two months following receipt of the above-              4. In the case of mineral oils imported in the un-
  mentioned communication.                                       altered state or contained in other products from
                                                                 non-member countries of the European Communi-
  The Member State shall only introduce the new                  ties, the provisions of Council Directive 69/74/EEC
  variations in rates after receipt of the Commission's          H of 4 March 1969 on the harmonization of pro-
  Opinion or Recommendation or after the expiry of              visions laid down by law, regulation or adminis-
 the two months' time limit.                                    trative action relating to customs warehousing
                                                                 procedure shall apply and shall have the same effect
                                                                 on excise duty and on customs duties.
                       III. Controls
                                                                                        Article 14
                         Article 12
                                                                 1. The opening of a bonded warehouse shall be
  1. Member States shall take all necessary measures            authorized by the administration responsible on the
  for the control of mineral oils:                              prior request of the person concerned provided
                                                                that he:
 — produced      and stored in production establish-
      ments,
                                                                 (a) produces or imports mineral oils or is engaged
 — put into circulation,                                             in wholesale trade in such oils or alternatively
                                                                     provides storage facilities for third parties who
 — disposed of in way of trade,                                      deal in, import or produce mineral oils.
 — stored in bonded warehouses,                                      However, depots used for retail sales shall be
                                                                     excluded from the bonded warehouse system;
 — held and used for purposes qualifying for an
      exemption from duty or for a reduced rate.
                                                                (b) has available installations which conform to the
                                                                     requirements of national laws, regulations and
 2. The control measures mentioned in paragraph 1                    administrative provisions relating to bonded
 may be relaxed in cases where there is no reason to                 warehousing.
 fear that the collection of the excise duty will not
 be at risk.
                                                               2. Member States may in addition prescribe sup-
 In the case of those products mentioned in Article 2
                                                                plementary conditions for opening and operating
 which are used either as motor fuel or, at a reduced
                                                                a bonded warehouse provided that these apply
 rate, as fuel, Member States will take all necessary
                                                                identically to indigenous and to imported products.
measures, e.g. colouring and marking, to prevent
 improper use.
                                                                            V. Collection of the excise duty
              IV. Bonded warehouse system
                                                                                        Article 15
                        Article 13
                                                                1. Payment of the excise duty which becomes due
1. Mineral oil may be held in a bonded warehouse               in the course of a calendar month shall be made at
without payment of duty and there be subjected to              the latest at the end of a period which Member
processes set out in paragraphs 2 and 3 in addition
to the usual forms of handling which may be carried
out in customs warehouses.                                     (x) OJ N o L 58, 8. 3. 1969.
 ---pagebreak--- 31.10.73                             Official Journal of the European Communities                            N o C 92/41
States are free to fix between the fifteenth of the             2. Without prejudice to subsequent Community
following month and the fifteenth of the second                 provisions there may however be retained:
month after it becomes due.
                                                                — in France: the charge collected for the 'Hydro-
                                                                    carbon Support Fund' and the 'Institut du
2. However, Member States shall have the option                     petrole' (redevance perdue au profit du fonds
to extend the application of provisions governing                   de soutien des hydrocarbures et au profit de
the collection of customs duties to cover excise duty               l'lnstitut du petrole);
on imported products.                                           — in the Federal Republic of Germany: the tax
                                                                    levied on lubricating oils delivered for consump-
                                                                    tion and intended to support the 'Fund for
                                                                    eliminating used oils' (Riickstellungsfonds zur
                 VI. Excise Committee                               Sicherung der Altolbeseitigung);
                                                                — in the Netherlands: the special duty levied on
                                                                    certain mineral oils which cause air pollution
                        Article 16
                                                                    (heffing brandstoffen luchtverontreiniging).
Where the need arises Community measures for
                                                                3. Without prejudice to subsequent Community
implementing Articles 2 to 15 inclusive shall be
                                                                provisions, Member States may by way of dero-
decided in accordance with the procedure laid down
                                                                gation from paragraph (1) introduce special taxes
by Council Decision N o             of        establishing
                                                                on certain mineral oils under emergency measures
an Excise Committee.
                                                                relating to the protection of the environment, as
                                                                referred to in the agreement of the government
                                                                representatives of the Member States meeting in
                                                                the Council on 6 March 1973.
              VII. Transitional provisions
                                                                                        Article 19
                        Article 17
                                                                In order to enable the Council to give an Opinion
1. For a period, ending not later than the time                 before 1 July 1975 on the common excise duty
when taxes on imports and remission taxes on                    scheme to be applied to mineral oils used in the
exports are abolished in trade between the Member               agricultural sector the Commission shall submit
States, Member States may charge with the excise                proposals relating thereto to the Council before
duty, by way of derogation from Article 9 (2) (a),              1 July 1974.
mineral oils which are used for lubrication and, by
way of derogation from Article 9 (2) (d), heavy
                                                                                        Article 20
oils other than gas oils used as fuel.
                                                                1. Member States shall bring into force on 1 Jan-
2. Ireland and the United Kingdom may have three
                                                                uary 1975 the laws, regulations and administrative
years from the date of the entry into force of this
                                                                provisions necessary for compliance with the pro-
Directive to apply Article 15 (1).
                                                                visions of this Directive and shall immediately ad-
                                                                vise the Commission thereof.
                 VIII. Final provisions                         2. From the date on which they are notified of this
                                                                Directive Member States shall also ensure that the
                                                                Commission is informed in adequate time to make
                                                                known its views on their future intentions to adopt
                        Article 18                              essential laws, regulations or administrative pro-
                                                                visions in the field covered by this Directive.
1. Member States shall refrain from subjecting
mineral oils directly or indirectly to any indirect
charge other than the excise duty prescribed in                                         Article 21
Article 1 and the value added tax provided for by
Council Directive 67/227/EEC of 11 April 1967 (1).              This Directive is addressed to all Member States.
i1) OJ No 71, 14. 4. 1967, p. 1301/67.
 ---pagebreak--- N o C 92/42                              Official Journal of the European Communities                           31.10. 73
                                                             ANNEX
             Exemptions to the excise duty which are referred to in Article 10 (2) (a) of the Directive cover:
             (a) mineral oils which are used to obtain compensating products under an inward processing
                 system within the meaning of the Council Directive of 4 March 1969 (x);
             (b) mineral oils consumed under an inward processing system for a use referred to in Article
                 2 (3) (d) of the Council Directive of 4 March 1969 as well as the Annex to the Commission
                 Directive of 30 June 1971 (2);
             (c) within the limits fixed by each Member State motor fuels, heating fuels and lubricants which
                 are aboard a foreign means of transport which enters a Member State for a temporary stay
                 or aboard any national means of transport returning from a stay abroad;
             (d) samples of mineral oils of negligible value which can only be used for seeking orders for
                 goods to be imported or for taking orders for goods to be exported;
             (e) samples of mineral oils other than those listed above, imported under re-export conditions
                 to be used in orders for the import or export of goods;
             (f) samples of mineral oils for scientific research;
             (g) goods imported for or on the account of the exporter and on which no work or processing
                 has been carried out abroad or which have been stored;
             (h) mineral oils intended for display at international public exhibitions and subsequently
                 re-exported.                                                                                            /
             (!) OJ No L 58, 8. 3. 1969.
             (2) OJ No L 161, 19.7.1971.
             Proposal for a Regulation (EEC) of the Council increasing the Community tariff quota
             for certain eels falling within subheading N o ex 03.01 A II of the Common Customs
                                                              Tariff
                         (Submitted      to the Council by the Commission     on 14 September 1973)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES                              cated among the Member States a Community
                                                                     Tariff quota for 1973 for 5 300 metric tons of fresh
                                                                     eels (live or dead), chilled or frozen, whether in-
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the Euro-                   tended for preservation in brine or for the industrial
pean Economic Community, and in particular                           manufacture of products falling within heading
Article 43 thereof;                                                  16.04, falling — subject to conditions to be deter-
                                                                     mined by the competent authorities — within
Having regard to the proposal from the Commis-                       subheading ex 03.01 A II of the Common Customs
sion;                                                                Tariff;
Having regard to the Opinion of the European                         Whereas in fixing the quota at 5 300 metric tons,
Parliament;                                                          account was taken of the fact that community pro-
                                                                     duction was expected to increase considerably in
Whereas, by Council • Regulation N o 2727/72 (x) of                  1973; whereas it has become apparent that there
19 December 1972, the Council opened and allo-                       has thus far been only a slight increase and that
                                                                     total Community requirements in the products in
                                                                     question are higher than was originally estimated;
(x) OJ No L 291, 28. 12. 1972, p. 58.                                whereas further requirements amounting to some