natgillin/translations-raw huggingface dataset:
Tilkendegivelserne fra toldmyndighederne har ikke generelt tydet på, at en forbedring af forsendelsesordningen nyder en høj politisk prioritering i de nationale finans- og transportministerier14. På et møde i Paris, som udvalgets ordfører deltog i, og hvor der blev truffet forberedelser til et ministermøde om kriminalitet i forbindelse med transport15, viste det sig, at nationale transportministre i det store og hele generelt ikke var klar over omfanget af krisen.
The evidence given by customs authorities has not in general indicated a high political priority on the part of national finance and transport ministries for the improvement of the transit system.14A meeting attended by the Committee's rapporteur in Paris, at which preparations were made for a meeting of ministers on the subject of crime in transport,10revealed that, by and large, national transport ministers at least were generally unaware of the scale of the crisis.
Det er også det indtryk, medlemmer af undersøgelsesudvalget har fået på delegationsrejser, hvor de mødtes med nationale finansministre og andre ansvarlige politikere.
This has also been the impression gathered by members of the Committee of Inquiry on delegation visits during which they have met national ministers of finance and other responsible politicians.
Visse finansministres store uvidenhed eller ligegyldighed samt deres deraf følgende passivitet var specielt overraskende for udvalget i betragtning af de betydelige tab af offentlige indtægter, der er tale om på et tidspunkt med generel budgetstramning.
The degree of unawareness or unconcern shown by finance ministers, and their consequent inaction, has been particularly surprising to the Committee in view of the substantial losses to public revenue involved at a time of general budgetary stringency.
Ovennævnte mangel på politisk prioritering har medført problemer med den nødvendige finansiering af Kommissionens kommende datamatiseringsprojekt.
The lack of political priority mentioned above, has led to problems in the necessary funding for the Commission's forthcoming computerisation project.
Som svar på spørgsmålene i udvalgets spørgeskema om sandsynligheden for, at Kommissionens dataprojekt 1 ) ville blive færdigt til tiden, og 2) få tildelt tilstrækkelige midler i medlemsstaterne, udtrykte de fleste toldtjenester tvivl om, hvorvidt disse forudsætninger for datamatisering ville blive opfyldt - et synspunkt der afspejles i følgende udsagn:
In the responses to the Committee's questionnaire on the likelihood of computerisation (i) being completed on schedule, and (ii) being adequately funded by Member States' governments, most customs services expressed clear doubts as to whether either of these pre-conditions of computerisation would be achieved - a view reflected in testimony:
"Medlemsstaterne siger på den anden side, at de ikke kan forpligte sig til det, da de overhovedet ikke ved, om de kan finansiere det."16
"The Member States on the other hand are saying that they cannot commit themselves to that because they do not know at all if they can finance it."16
Kommissionsmedlem Gradin gik lidt videre og var enig med formanden i, at der var "administrativ modstand" mod reformer, og sagde, at hun havde "mødt den i visse medlemsstater."17
Commissioner Gradin went a little further concurring with the chairman's suggestion that there was "administrative resistance" to reform, and saying that she had "come across it in certain Member States."17
Selv om det relative beløb til datamatiseringsprojektet er lille, synes der, trods Rådets støtte, at være ringe begejstring i medlemsstaterne for at yde den nødvendige materielle støtte.
Even though the relative amount involved in the computerisation project is small, there seems little enthusiasm on the part of the Member States, notwithstanding the supportive resolution of Council, for the necessary material support.
På samme måde har tal i denne beretning allerede vist, at alle medlemsstater (på nær én) har indskrænket de nationale toldtjenester betragteligt.
By the same token, figures provided in this report have already indicated that all Member States (bar one) have substantially cut the size of national customs services.
Selv om dette angiveligt ligger i forlængelse af indførelsen af det indre marked og afskaffelsen af de indre grænser, opfattes det generelt som havende mere at gøre med besparelser på budgettet og opfyldelse af Maastricht-konvergenskriterierne end med en egentlig formindskelse af toldtjenesternes behov". Ligeledes er finansiering af udstyr til toldtjensterne et stridsspørgsmål i mange medlemsstaters toldtjenester, som giver udtryk for skuffelse over de nationale myndigheders modvilje mod at opfylde relativt beskedne krav om udstyr19.
Though ostensibly a response to the introduction of the Single Market and the abolition of internal frontiers, this action is generally perceived to have more to do with budgetary cuts and meeting Maastricht convergence criteria than with any genuine reduction in the needs of customs services.18In a similar vein, funding for equipment of the customs services is a contentious issue with several Member States' customs services expressing disappointment at the unwillingness of national authorities to meet relatively moderate requests for equipment.19
Samarbejdet medlemsstaterne imellem
Cooperation between Member States
Af forrige afsnit fremgik, hvor langsomme, formalistiske og ineffektive de eksisterende samarbejdsordninger er, både når det drejer sig om undersøgelser og retsligt samarbejde.
The previous section outlined the extent to which the existing systems for cooperation at both the investigative and judicial levels are slow, formalistic and inefficient.
I denne forbindelse ville forsøg fra enkelte medlemsstaters side på at forbedre samarbejdet være både mulige og nyttige.
In this context, action by individual Member States to improve cooperation would be both possible and fruitful.
Men til trods for den indlysende gensidige interesse, medlemsstaterne har i at skabe et bedre praktisk samarbejde, er der indtil nu taget forholdsvis få konkrete skridt til at demonstrere viljen til at omsætte denne interesse i praksis.
However, notwithstanding the clear mutual interest of the Member States in achieving better practical cooperation, there is as yet relatively little concrete action to demonstrate the will to translate this interest into practice.
Forbindelserne mellem de enkelte medlemsstaters tjenester og UCLAF illustrerer dette fænomen.
Relations between individual Member States' services and UCLAF are illustrative of this phenomenon.
Der er nogle medlemsstater, der arbejder på at opnå et mere effektivt samarbejde og formalisere forbindelserne med UCLAF20, mens andre endnu ikke har gjort noget.
Though some Member States are working to achieve more effective cooperation and to place relations with UCLAF on a formal footing20, others Member States have not yet acted.
Som så ofte er det sandsynligt, at problemet ikke så meget ligger i modvilje mod de nødvendige foranstaltninger (selv om spørgsmål om suverænitet hyppigt dukker op i denne forbindelse), men snarere i en almindelig bureaukratisk inerti, når det drejer sig om spørgsmål, der ikke står øverst på den offentlige dagsorden.
As so often, it is probable that the problem lies not so much in an antipathy towards the necessary measures (though questions of sovereignty frequently arise in this context), but in a general bureaucratic inertia when confronted with problems which are not at the top of the public agenda.
Inerti af denne art blev nævnt over for udvalget af et vidne i særligt voldsomme vendinger.
Inertia of this kind was cited to the Committee by one witness in particularly vehement terms.
Sven Buhrkall fra Dansk Speditørforening var meget kritisk.
Mr Sven Buhrkall of Dansk Speditørforening "Danish Freight Forwarders Association" was highly critical.
Han beklagede sig over toldtjenesternes undladelse af at returnere 5. gennemslagskopi af TI-formularerne til afgangstoldstedet og sagde i denne forbindelse:
In complaining of the failure of customs services to return copy 5 of the Tl form to the office of departure, he observed:
"Derudover ser det for os ud, som om den danske skatteminister ikke er klar over problemet.
"Furthermore, it seems to us that the Danish Minister of Taxation is ignoring this problem.
Der mangler vilje til at udvikle samarbejdet mellem toldmyndighederne selv og mellem toldmyndighederne og speditørerne.
There is a lack of will to develop cooperation between the customs authorities themselves and between customs authorities and the forwarding industry.
Helt vitale oplysninger vedrørende bedragerier og kendskab til falske stempler er aldrig blevet videresendt til Dansk Speditørforening."21
Quite vital items of information concerning fraud, knowledge of false stamps, have never been passed on to Dansk Speditørforening."21
Det er tydeligt, at medlemsstaternes regeringer ikke i tilstrækkelig grad beskæftiger sig problemerne i forsendelsesordningen, på trods af at hovedparten af de tab, som bedragerierne afstedkommer, i højere grad går ud over medlemsstaternes budget end Fællesskabets.
It is clear that Member State governments are failing adequately to address the problems of the transit system, in spite of the fact that in practice, the bulk of the losses occasioned by transit fraud are suffered by the Member States rather than by the European Community budget.
Denne mangel på erkendelse af problemerne og den inerti, det medfører, forplanter sig til Den Europæiske Unions beslutningstagende instanser i Rådet, men også nedad til toldtjenesterne selv.
This lack of awareness of the issues and the inertia it engenders, are transmitted to the decision-making instances of the European Union at Council level. However, they are also transmitted downwards to the customs services themselves.
Toldvæsenerne under angreb
Customs Under Attack
Undersøgelsesudvalget har undertiden været chokeret over den bitterhed, hvormed branchen har kritiseret toldmyndighederne.
The Committee of Inquiry has at times been shocked by the virulence with which traders have been prepared to criticise customs authorities.
Tre eksempler kan give en prøve på den vrede, der hersker blandt speditørerne mod toldernes rolle:
Three examples will give a taste of the anger felt in the freight forwarding industry about the role of customs:
"Efter vor opfattelse er forvaltningen sjusket, tilfældig og af ringe kvalitet. ...
- "In our opinion, the administration is slipshod, arbitrary and qualitatively very poor. ...
Man kan meget vel få det indtryk, at det er for let for toldvæsenerne at vælte deres økonomiske ansvar over på de hovedforpligtede, selv om de umiddelbare fejl og mangler kan tilskrives toldvæsenerne."22
One might well form the impression that it is too easy for the customs services to offload their
Ud over toldvæsenets generelle modvilje mod at samarbejde med speditørerne retter disse deres vrede mod toldvæsenet af to centrale grunde: for det første dets ineffektivitet og for det andet dets undladelse af at undersøge uregelmæssigheder og mistanke om svig.
Besides the general resistance of customs services to cooperating with the forwarding industry, the anger of the trade is directed at the customs services for two essential reasons: first, its inefficiency; and second, its failure to investigate irregularities and suspected fraud.
I artikel 356 i gennemførelsesbestemmelserne til toldkodeksen25kræves, at bestemmelsestoldstedet returnerer 5. gennemslagskopi af TI-dokumentet "straks".
Article 356 of the Customs Code implementing provisions23, requires that customs services return the copy 5 of the Tl document "without delay".
Der er ligeledes klare bestemmelser vedrørende frister for undersøgelsesprocedurer og særlige krav til medlemsstaterne med hensyn til undersøgelser af de formodede uregelmæssigheder eller bedragerier.
Similarly, there are clear rules on the deadlines for inquiry procedures and specific requirements on Member States in terms of the investigation of the suspected irregularities of fraud.
Det er uomtvisteligt, at disse bestemmelser for størstedelens vedkommende ikke overholdes af toldvæsenerne (undertiden ville det faktisk være nytteløst at gøre det26).
It is incontrovertibly clear that these provisions are not in the main respected by customs services (at times in fact it would be futile to do so26).
Virkningen er i praksis en væsentlig forøgelse af de hovedforpligtedes finansielle byrder som et resultat af, at deres kautioner er udestående i ofte lange perioder, for slet ikke at tale om den byrde, sikkerhedsstillelsen som sådan udgør.
The effect in practice is to add considerable financial burdens to transit principles as a result of their guarantees being outstanding for often great periods of time, not to mention the burden constituted by such guarantees being called upon.
Undladelse af at foretage undersøgelser
Failure to investigate
Toldvæsenerne bebrejdes for ikke at foretage et tilstrækkeligt antal seriøse undersøgelser og især for at nyfortolke forsendelsesordningen som en forsikringsordning til opkrævning af offentlige indtægter snarere end som en ordning, der skal lette transporten og varebevægelserne inden for EU.
The customs services are reproached for not undertaking a sufficient number of serious investigations, and in particular for reinterpreting the transit system as an insurance scheme for the collection of public revenue, rather than a facilitation system for the transport and circulation of goods within the EU.
Hertil kommer, at toldvæsenerne ofte er meget langsomme med at få indledt undersøgelser.
In addition, the customs services are often very slow in starting their investigations.
Anklagen mod toldvæsenerne for ikke at opfylde lovbestemte krav er en alvorlig anklage, der også drejer sig om et specifikt lovansvar såvel som et politisk ansvar.
The accusation that customs services do not comply with legal requirements is a serious one and evokes specific legal responsibilities as well as political responsibilities.
Men det er samtidig en kendsgerning, at de regler og procedurer, som medlemsstaternes toldvæsener lader hånt om, er håbløst urealistiske på baggrund af den ordning, der findes.
It is true however, at the same time, that the rules and procedures with which Member States customs services do not comply are hopelessly unrealistic in the light of the system which exists.
Toldvæsenet mener, som det er nævnt tidligere i beretningen, at en rigorøs gennemførelse i alle detaljer af bestemmelserne ville være til skade for toldindtægterne.
Customs services, as has been reported earlier in this document, feel that a rigorous application of the letter of the regulations would be counterproductive in terms of customs resources.
Dette argument har en vis vægt, men kun for så vidt som det er afhængigt af ineffektiviteten hos andre toldvæsener.
There is some weight in this argument, but only insofar as it depends on the ineffectiveness of fellow customs services. Thus do vicious circles begin.
Toldvæsenerne forvalter ikke forsendelsesordningen effektivt.
Customs services are not managing the transit system effectively.
Det er dog en kendsgerning, at visse medlemsstaters toldvæsen er mere skødesløst end andres.
Arguably, the customs services of particular Member States are more at fault than those of others.
toldforvaltning åbent har erkendt over for udvalget, at toldembedsmænd kan være korrupte27.
particular worry is the tendency of Member States to view the transit system as insurance for public revenue.
Påstande om det modsatte er i klar modstrid med virkeligheden og hjælper hverken udvalget eller toldvæsenerne selv.
One example of this is the curious fact that only one customs administration has openly acknowledged to the Committee that customs officials can be corrupt.27Assertions to the contrary fly in the face of reality and are unhelpful both for the Committee and for the customs services themselves.
I en vis forstand var toldvæsenerne uheldige på grund af timingen af krisen i forsendelsesordningen.
In some senses, customs services were unlucky in the timing of the crisis in the transit system.
De værste problemer opstod inden for forsendelsesproceduren som et resultat af indførelsen af det indre marked, mens der samtidig inden for de fleste toldvæsener blev foretaget massive afskedigelser med heraf følgende demotivering af personalet. For at citere Freight Forward Europe.
The worst problems arose in transit as a result of the introduction of the Single Market, while at the same time, most customs services saw substantial redundancies and a consequent demotivation of staff.
"Vi synes, at tolderne har det svært.
"We feel that customs officials have a hard time.
Som vi har sagt, nedskæres deres budgetter, deres profil inden for den offentlige tjenestes struktur som helhed og deres image forværres, og deres arbejde vanskeliggøres meget.
As we have said, they have declining budgets, their profile in ûie total structure of public service and their image is worsening and their work is made very difficult.
For eksempel kan jeg huske en tolder, der fortalte mig, at efter GATT-runden... kom der kasser med fisk fra Afrika fra særlige lande, og disse kasser kunne indeholde 85% fisk fra den ene region og 15% fra en anden region.
For example, I remember one customs official who told me that after the GATT round, ... boxes of fish came from Africa from particular countries which could contain 85% of fish from that region and 15% of fish from another region.
Tolderen sagde: Hvordan kan man forvente, at vi kontrollerer alt det?'."2*
The customs official said, How can you expect us to control all that?"28
Derfor er toldvæsenerne også på en vis måde både ofre for omstændighederne og i vidt omfang ansvarlige for den dårlige forvaltning af forsendelsesprocedurerne.
There is therefore a sense in which customs services are also victims of circumstance as well as being responsible in large part for poor management of transit.
Speditørerne
Traders
Fælles ansvar
A shared responsibility
Det er vigtigt bl.a. af hensyn til en afbalanceret opfattelse at huske på, at speditørbranchen også har et vist ansvar for problemerne inden for forsendelsesordningen. Med kommissær Gradins ord:
It is important, amongst other reasons for the sake of balance, to remember that the trade too bears a certain responsibility in the problems of the transit system.
"Vi har også fået mange eksempler på, hvor naive nogle af aktørerne i den private sektor kan være.
"We have also been given many examples of how naive some of the private sector players can be.
Jeg er forbavset over, at store speditører har indvilget i at transportere umiskendeligt tvivlsomme varer."29
I am surprised that big shipping agents have agreed to carry obviously dubious goods."29
Speditører har tydeligvis ikke været upåvirkede af anklagen for undertiden at have påtaget sig forretninger uden at have undersøgt deres kunder godt nok. Den portugisiske sag, der blev beskrevet i afsnit 5, er et eksempel herpå.
Freight forwarders have demonstrably not been immune to the charge that they have taken business at times without adequate investigation of their clients.
En virksomhed accepterede en forretning på grundlag af lemfældig dokumentation, angiveligt fordi fortjenesten var god.
A company accepted business on the basis of flimsy documentation, presumably because the returns on offer were good.
Da det kom til stykket, opnåede virksomheden ikke den gode fortjeneste, da de kautionskrav, der blev rejst, langt oversteg indtægten.30
In the event, the company did not enjoy the benefit of the good returns on offer, as the guarantee claims which arose exceeded the revenue made massively.30
Fejlene har generelt snarere ligget i undladelsessynd end i handlingssynd, eftersom en række institutioner og organisationer må dele ansvaret for, at der ikke er blevet reageret på en politisk og økonomisk udvikling, der kunne forventes at føre til et voksende antal bedragerier.
Sins have generally been of omission rather than commission, insofar as a variety of institutions and organisations share the responsibility for failing to respond to political and economic developments which foreseeably would lead to an increase in fraud.
Det afgørende tidspunkt, hvor denne fejl blev begået, var ved indførelsen af det indre marked med dets fjernelse af interne grænser. Til dels takket være advarsler fra erhvervslivet var det helt klart, at en allerede tungtarbejdende forsendelsesordning ville blive udsat for storstilet bedrageri på dette tidspunkt, og alligevel gjorde de ansvarlige tekniske og politiske myndigheder intet for at afvende krisen.
The defining moment at which this failure occurred was upon the introduction of the Single Market, with its removal of internal frontiers.
Dergjordes intet forsøg på at revidere selve ordningen og intet forsøg på at sørge for noget effektivt kontrol- eller håndhævelsesinstrument Toldvæsenerne forblev struktureret på et nationalt grundlag og var ikkeforberedt på det indre marked, man forsøgte ikke seriøst at styrke samarbejdet eller koordineringen mellem dem, og samtidig blev deres effektivitet sat på spil med storstilede personalenedskæringer.
No attempt was made to reform the system itself and no attempt was made to provide any effective instrument of control or enforcement. Customs services remained structured on a national basis and unprepared for the Single Market, no serious effort was made to enhance cooperation or coordination between them and, at the same time, their effectiveness was compromised by large-scale personnel cuts.
Generelt må sådanne forsømmelser opfattes som næsten forsætlig skødesløshed og manglende varetagelse af de legitime interesser hos dem, der bruger forsendelsesordningen, nemlig skatteyderen generelt og erhvervslivet som helhed Selv da krisen var opstået, var det forbavsende, i hvor høj grad man officielt lod stå til på dette område, især i medlemsstaterne, og i hvor høj grad toldvæsenerne var rede til at lade tingene gå deres skæve gang.
Overall such omissions represent almost wilful negligence and a failure to protect the legitimate interests of those using the transit system, the taxpayer at large and the economy as a whole. Even after the crisis had developed, the degree of official complacency on the issue, particularly in the Member States, and the degree to which customs services have been prepared to let the situation ride were startling.
Kommissionens teknokrater reagerede langsomt på en truende krise og var endog langsomme til at gore politikerne opmærksom herpå.
The technocrats of the Commission were slow to react to a looming crisis or even to bring it to the attention of the politicians.
Rådets medlemmer undlod at tage opfordringen op i forbindelse med det projekt, det indre marked var; de lod det være halvfærdigt arbejde og udsatte derved borgernefor de deraffolgende udbredte bedragerier samt den bredere kriminalitet, som det indre marked kom til at finansiere Da tolderne blev konfronteret med de efterfølgende vanskeligheder, var de rede til at vælge den nemme løsning og rent faktisk lade regningen for deres egen manglende evne til at håndtere det uhåndterlige videresende til erhvervslivet eller - i et forsøg på at lette presset på erhvervslivet - til skatteyderen.
The members of Council failed to meet the challenge of the Single Market project, leaving it half-complete and their citizens exposed to the resultant widespread fraud and the wider criminality financed by it. The officials of the customs services, confronted with the resultant difficulties, were prepared to take the easy option and in effect charge the bill for their own inability to manage the unmanageable to the trade, or, in an effort to ease the pressure on traders, to the taxpayer.
Associeringsaftaler indgået af Den Europæiske Union med landene i Central- og Østeuropa.
Association agreements entered into by the European Union with the countries of Central and Eastern Europe.