COMMISSION DECISION  of 12 July 1995 laying down certain provisions for implementing Council Decision 93/588/EEC on the  adoption of a programme of Community action on the subject of the vocational training of indirect  taxation officials (95/279/EC)
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
Having regard to Council Decision 93/588/EEC of 29 October 1993 on the adoption of a programme of  Community action on the subject of the vocational training of indirect taxation officials  (Matthaeus-Tax)  (1),
Whereas, pursuant to Article 4 (c) of that Decision, the Commission is required to establish common  training programmes for indirect taxation officials;
Whereas such programmes are vital to achieving the objectives of the Matthaeus-Tax programme, and  especially that of ensuring improved application of Community law;
Whereas they are made necessary by differences in teaching given to indirect tax officials at  colleges in the Member States;
Whereas they are an appropriate means of providing officials with comparable training across the  Community;
Whereas it is vital to draw up, as a priority, a common programme for officials receiving initial  training; whereas this programme must cover the whole range of tax matters;
Whereas a substantial part of the programme must be devoted to studying the Community institutions  and their origins because indirect taxation officials are increasingly required to take these  aspects into account;
Whereas certain international conventions are an important source of Community law; whereas it is  important, therefore, for indirect taxation officials to be aware of the provisions of these  conventions and of their impact on Community law;
Whereas this common programme will constitute a unified approach on indirect taxation in the  Community and help indirect taxation officials more rapidly to appreciate the growing Community  dimension of their work;
Whereas the action provided for in this Decision is consistent with the opinion of the  Matthaeus-Tax Committee,
A common programme of vocational training for indirect tax officials,  hereinafter referred to as the 'common programme`, the content of which is set out in the Annex, is  hereby instituted at training colleges in the Member States.
For the purposes of this Decision:
1.  college means any establishment in which indirect taxation officials receive instruction in the  form of vocational training;
2.  officials receiving initial training means officials who have just entered the profession or  been assigned to a new grade, as well as officials who have been working for a tax administration  for not more than five years.
The common programme shall be intended for indirect taxation officials required to  apply Community law, irrespective of their place of work.
1.  The common programme shall concern all officials receiving initial training.
2.  In the case of officials who have completed their initial training, the national  administrations shall, where appropriate, disseminate the content of the common programme at  seminars providing continuing training.
The implementation of the common programme shall be spread over a period corresponding  to the length of initial training in each of the national indirect tax administrations. In the case  of indirect tax administrations which currently do not provide initial training, this period shall  not exceed three years.
Each Member State shall communicate to the Commission its provisions and procedures for  implementing the common programme.
Implementation of the common programme shall not preclude implementation of  supplementary national programmes in colleges.
The Member States shall apply the common programme with effect from 1 June 1995.
This Decision is addressed to the Member States.