WRITTEN QUESTION No. 2397/97 by Carles-Alfred GASOLIBA I BÖHM to the Commission. Use of Cohesion Fund resources
17. 3. 98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 82/69 Answer given by Mr Monti on behalf of the Commission (18 September 1997) Generally speaking, goods which are intended for export are exempted from taxation whereas imported goods are made subject to taxation. It is against this background that travellers are not allowed to make tax- and duty-free purchases in the Member State of arrival. This applies to both travellers arriving from third countries and travellers inside the Community. Instead, travellers are allowed tax- and duty-free purchases in the Member State of departure. At import, the traveller has to declare the goods intended for import and, in principle, to pay tax on all imported goods. The traveller does not pay tax on goods which fall within certain limits in terms of quantity or value since these benefit from a traveller’s allowance. Compliance with the obligation to declare and pay tax at import is ensured through controls carried out by the customs authorities. Within the single market, controls at the internal borders of the Community are no longer possible. The border control has been replaced by the vendor control system. The report presented by the Commission (1) shows that vendor control systems are not operating satisfactorily in Member States. The Commission appreciates fully the view expressed by the Honourable Member on the safety and environmental aspects of duty-free goods kept on board aircraft. These are however problems which will be resolved in the near future. It should be recalled that, following the decision of the Council to put an end to duty-free sales to travellers inside the Community, such sales will expire on 30 June 1999. (1) COM(96) 245 final. (98/C 82/118) WRITTEN QUESTION E-2397/97 by Carles-Alfred Gaso‘liba i Bo¤hm (ELDR) to the Commission (10 July 1997) Subject: Use of Cohesion Fund resources One third of the territory of the Valencia Region is affected by serious erosion and desertification. The regional authorities allocated 1 932 million from the Cohesion Fund to combat this process in 1996. Can the Commission supply information about the use of these resources in 1996? Answer given by Mrs Wulf-Mathies on behalf of the Commission (12 September 1997) The Commission is conscious of the problems of soil erosion and desertification in many parts of Spain, including the region of Valencia. In order to help combat these problems, the Commission approved assistance from the Cohesion fund for a number of projects in 1995 and early 1996 aimed at reafforestation, forestry treatment, erosion control and the regeneration of areas damaged by fire in all the major river basins of Spain. Some projects which were presented by the Spanish authorities in 1996 were approved for assistance in July 1997. The latest decisions granting assistance might include projects located within the territory of the autonomous region of Valencia (basins of the Ebro, Ju‘car/Levante and Segura). Complementary information is sent direct to the Honourable Member and to the Secretariat general of Parliament