Regulation (EC) No 1624/2000 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 July 2000 amending Council Regulation (EEC) No 3330/91 on the statistics relating to the trading of goods between Member States, with specific reference to a simplified application of the nomenclature of products

Regulation (EC) No 1624/2000 of the European Parliament and of the Council
of 10 July 2000
amending Council Regulation (EEC) No 3330/91 on the statistics relating to the trading of goods between Member States, with specific reference to a simplified application of the nomenclature of products
THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 95 thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission(1),
Having regard to the opinion delivered by the Economic and Social Committee(2),
Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty(3),
Whereas:
(1) Under Council Regulation (EEC) No 3330/91(4), the Community and its Member States compile statistics relating to the trading of goods between Member States ("Intrastat") during the transitional period which began on 1 January 1993 and will end on the date of change-over to a unified system of taxation in the Member State of origin.
(2) The simplification of legislation for the internal market, as formulated in the SLIM (Simpler Legislation for the Internal Market) initiative, is intended to improve enterprises' competitiveness and job creation potential.
(3) The simplification of the Intrastat system has been chosen as a SLIM pilot project, and specific proposals drawn up by the SLIM-Intrastat Working Party for reducing the burden on providers of statistical information have been the subject of a communication to the European Parliament and the Council and have been welcomed by them.
(4) The simplified application of the product nomenclature is one such proposal, since information providers generally regard the classification of products as difficult.
(5) It is important to simplify the combined nomenclature to be used on a uniform basis in both intra-Community and external trade, so as to make it easier to apply the system - in particular for small and medium-sized enterprises; in this context the results of the ongoing discussions conducted by the Commission with Member States and European trade and industry organisations in the SLIM framework should be taken into account, preserving the principle of one single nomenclature.
(6) The use of simplification thresholds is an efficient tool to reduce the burdens of declaration on businesses, in particular the SMEs,