1.7.2003 Official Journal of the European Union L 1625 DECISION No 1152/2003/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 16 June 2003 on computerising the movement and surveillance of excisable products THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Commu- nity, and in particular Article 95 thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (!), Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee (), Acting in accordance with the procedure provided for in Article 251 of the Treaty (), Whereas: (1) Council Directive 92/12/EEC of 25 February 1992 on the general arrangements for products subject to excise duty and on the holding, movement and monitoring of such products (*) provides that products moving between the territories of the Member States under excise-duty suspension arrangements must be accompanied by a document completed by the consignor. (2)  Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2719/92 of 11 September 1992 on the accompanying document for the movement under duty-suspension arrangements of products subject to excise duty () lays down the form and content of the accompanying document provided for in Directive 92/12[EEC. (3) It is necessary to have a computerised system for moni- toring the movement of excisable goods, such as will allow Member States to obtain real-time information on those movements and to carry out the requisite checks, including checks during movement of products, within the meaning of Article 15 of Directive 92/12/EEC. (4)  The setting up of a computer system should also allow the intra-Community movement of goods under suspen- sion of excise duties to be simplified. (5) A computerised system for the intra-Community move- ment and monitoring of excisable goods (EMCS) should be compatible and, if technically possible, merged with the new computerised transit system (NCTS), so as to facilitate administrative and commercial procedures. () O] C 51E, 26.2.2002, p. 372. () 0] € 221,17.9.2002, p. 1. (’) European Parliament Opinion of 24 September 2003 (not yet published in the Official Journal), Council Common Position of 21 January 2003 (O] C 64 E, 18.3.2003, p. 1) and European Parliament Decision of 8 April 2003 (not yet published in the Official Journal). Council Decision of 3 June 2003. () OJ L 76, 23.3.1992, p. 1. Directive as last amended by Directive 2000/47[EC (O] L 193, 29.7.2000, p. 73). () OJ L 276, 19.9.1992, p. 1. Regulation as amended by Regulation (EEC) No 2225/93 (O] L 198, 7.8.1993, p. 5). (6) (10) (11) (12) For the purposes of implementing this Decision, the Commission should coordinate Member States' activities, so as to ensure the smooth operation of the internal market. Because of the size and complexity of such a compu- terised system, both the Community and the Member States will need considerable additional human and financial resources for the purpose. Accordingly, provi- sion should be made whereby the Commission and the Member States make the necessary resources available for the development and deployment of the system. In developing the national components, Member States should apply the principles laid down for electronic government systems and should treat the economic operators in the same way as in the other fields where computer systems are set up. In particular, they should allow the economic operators, especially the small and medium-sized enterprises active in this sector, to use these national components at the lowest possible cost, and they should promote all measures aimed at preser- ving their competitiveness. The division between the Community and non-Commu- nity components of the computerised system should also be defined, as should the respective duties of the Commission and the Member States with regard to the system's development and deployment. In that context, the Commission, assisted by the relevant Committee, should fulfil a major role in coordinating, organising and managing the system. Arrangements should be made for evaluating the imple- mentation of the computerised system for monitoring excisable goods. The funding of the system should be shared between the Community and the Member States, the Community's share being specifically entered as such in the general budget of the European Union. Establishing the computerised system serves to enhance the internal-market aspects of the movement of excisable goods. Any fiscal aspects relating to the movement of excisable goods should be addressed by amending Direc- tive 92/12/EEC. This Decision does not prejudice the legal basis of any future amendments to Directive 92/ 12/EEC.