Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the 'Proposal for a European Parliament and Council Regulation (EC) amending Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 establishing the Community customs code (transit)'
9. 3. 98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 73/17 3. 2. The ESC particularly welcomes the priorities which have been set whereby almost half of the funding is to be allocated to the establishment of the New Computerized Transit System (NCTS) and for the purposes of harmonizing-data exchange facilities between the Member States and the Commission [Com- mon Communication Network/Common Systems Inter- face (CCN/CSI)]. 3. 3. The ESC already underlined the importance of these two objectives in its opinion on the ‘Customs 2000’ action programme and its opinion on the action plan for transit in Europe (1). 3. 4. computerization projects’, classified by a system, An ‘indicative breakdown of “Custom 2000” is (1) OJ C 355, 21. 11. 1997. Brussels, 10 December 1997. given at the end of the Commission’s document. As the figures indicated are merely estimates, the ESC urges that a flexible approach be adopted when allocating funding, in the light of the needs of the individual systems. The ESC requests that it be given annual reports 3. 5. on the targeting and the effectiveness of funding. These reports should indicate where funds have 3. 6. been switched between systems. 3. 7. The ESC attaches particular importance to the fact that Community customs applications should be in line with the internationally recognized UN/EDIFACT standard. This would also ensure that communication with economic players is as it should be. The President of the Economic and Social Committee Tom JENKINS Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the ‘Proposal for a European Parliament and Council Regulation (EC) amending Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 establishing the Community customs code (transit)’ (98/C 73/05) On 4 December 1997 the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, under Article 100a of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the above-mentioned proposal. The Section for Industry, Commerce, Crafts and Services, which was responsible for preparing the Committee’s work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 3 December 1997. The rapporteur was Mr Giesecke. At its 350th plenary session (meeting of 10 December 1997) the Economic and Social Committee adopted the following opinion by 106 votes to two with two abstentions. 1. Introduction 2. Commission proposal 1. 1. The EC Customs Code, which entered into force on 1st january 1994, establishes the framework for Community customs legislation. Requirements have changed considerably since the Code’s entry into force, thereby making amendments necessary. 2. 1. The proposal for amending Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 establishing the Community customs code makes adjustments to the transit procedure. These adjustments are mainly the consequence of the action plan for transit in Europe (1). 1. 2. Both economic operators and customs adminis- trations consider that the provisions should be made simpler and clearer. (1) COM(97) 188 final. C 73/18 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 9. 3. 98 2. 2. The main aim of the external transit procedure is to make it easier to transport non-Community goods within the Community customs territory. The use of this procedure for Community goods is to remain an exception. Article 91(1)(b) is to be adjusted to meet these requirements. 3. 5. From the Committee’s point of view, the transfer of responsibility for procedural provisions to the Com- mission could be welcomed if individual decisions are taken properly using the ‘comitology’ procedure, i. e. after consulting economic operators and customs admin- istrations. The concept of discharge of a transit procedure 2. 3. is to be defined by amending Article 92. 4. Specific comments 2. 4. With regard to the provision of guarantees, shipments by sea are to be treated on a par with shipments by road. The general waiver regarding guarantees is to be abolished by amending Article 94(2). 2. 5. Article 95 is to be reworded so that the criteria for waiving guarantees are included in the Customs Code implementing provisions. 2. 6. Article 96(2) is to be deleted, since the incurrence of a customs debt as a result of removing goods from customs supervision is regulated elsewhere (Article 203). 2. 7. Since there is no scope any more for national transit regulations, the deletion of Article 97(2) will ensure greater transparency and a more uniform appli- cation by the Member States. 2. 8. The amendment to Article 192 makes allowance for the special requirements with regard to the provision of a security under the international transit procedure. 2. 9. The amendment to Article 215 is designed to make it possible to determine exactly who is responsible for the incurrence of a customs debt. 3. General comments 3. 1. The Commission proposal intends to eliminate a number of shortcomings in the present Customs Code which came to light recently when checks were made on the operation of the transit procedures. 3. 2. The proposed transfer of procedural provisions from the body of law laid down by the Council (Customs Code) to the Commission’s sphere of responsibility (Customs Code implementing provisions) has both advantages and disadvantages. 3. 3. The swifter and more flexible adaptation of provisions to the needs of economic operators and customs administrations might be beneficial. 3. 4. However, frequent changes could be seen as a disadvantage vis-à-vis the stability offered by the Code in the past. 4. 1. Amendment to Article 91(1) 4. 1. 1. Presumably, hardly anything is to change in practice. The field of application must, however, be laid down in the Customs Code implementing provisions. 4. 1. 2. The fact that non-Community goods are what they are, which plays a role especially in the cases of goods subject to a market regime, can only be proven under the transit procedure. The T5 documents used under market regime legislation do not provide an adequate check. 4. 2. Amendment to Article 92 4. 2. 1. present definition and is therefore welcomed. The proposed new wording fills a gap in the 4. 3. Amendment to Article 94 4. 3. 1. The reform of transit by sea is considered by the Commission to be necessary on the basis of the findings of a task force over a period of 2` years. Guarantees are now to be required, too, for transit procedures by sea. However, a distinction is to be made between scheduled services (regular services only between ports within the Community customs territory) and non-scheduled services. 4. 3. 2. In the case of scheduled shipping services — which represent, as it were, an extended bridge — the goods transported are to be assumed to be Community goods just as they are in road transport. Since transit procedures are necessary only in the case of non- Community goods, to Article 94 will not hamper intra-Community trade in the Committee’s view. the proposed amendment 4. 3. 3. The goods carried by non-scheduled services are to be assumed — as in the past — to be non- Community goods (third country status). 4. 4. Amendment to Article 95 4. 4. 1. The proposed amendment to Article 95 is in line with point 4. 6. 2 of the Committee opinion (1) on the Commission Communication concerning an action (1) OJ C 355, 21. 11. 1997. 9. 3. 98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 73/19 plan for transit in Europe. It is to be welcomed in principle. The criteria for the modular guarantee are to be specified in the Customs Code implementing provisions. 4. 5. Amendment to Article 96 The deletion of Article 96(2) has no effect 4. 5. 1. legally, since the incurrence of a customs debt through the removal from customs supervision is regulated in Article 203 of the Customs Code. Non-punishment in the event of deadlines being slightly exceeded must still be ensured. The amendment is welcomed. Brussels, 10 December 1997. 4. 6. Amendment to Article 97 The deletion of Article 97(2) poses no problems, 4. 6. 1. since there is no scope any more for national transit procedures. The flexibility which Member States also require is guaranteed by the Customs Code (Article 91). 4. 7. Amendment to Article 192 4. 7. 1. ment. The Committee endorses the proposed amend- 4. 8. Amendment to Article 215 4. 8. 1. The rewording seems advisable because of the differing turnover and consumption taxes in the Member States. The President of the Economic and Social Committee Tom JENKINS Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the ‘XXVIth Report on Competition Policy (1996)’ (98/C 73/06) On 24 April 1997, the Commission decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, under Article 198 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the ‘XXVIth Report on Competition Policy (1996)’. The Section for Industry, Commerce, Crafts and Services, which was responsible for preparing the Committee’s work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 3 December 1997. The rapporteur was Mr Simpson. At its 350th plenary session (meeting of 10 December 1997) the Economic and Social Committee adopted the following opinion by 98 votes to two with four abstentions. 1. Preliminary comments 1. 1. The Economic and Social Committee (ESC) has, each year, taken the opportunity to comment on the report prepared by the European Commission on Com- petition Policy. 1. 2. The report on developments in 1996, the XXVIth in the series, was published in April 1997, within days of the separate publication of the Fifth Survey on State Aid in the European Union. The report on State aid, containing information for the years 1990 to 1994, updates the last survey published in 1994. 1. 3. Because of the close relationship between the policy questions raised by the analysis in the Fifth Survey and the review of policy and decisions on State aid in the Competition Policy report, the ESC decided to prepare one opinion dealing with both documents. 1. 4. These reports offer a valuable insight into many of the difficult questions faced by the Commission in the evolution and promotion of competition policy and the application of State aids. The ESC commends the Commission on the 1. 5. expeditious publication of both documents