Considerations on COM(2018)341 - Computerising the movement and surveillance of excise goods (recast)

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dossier COM(2018)341 - Computerising the movement and surveillance of excise goods (recast).
document COM(2018)341 EN
date January 15, 2020
 
table>(1)A number of amendments are to be made to Decision No 1152/2003/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (3). In the interests of clarity, that Decision should be recast.
(2)Council Directive (EU) 2020/262 (4) provides that goods moving between the territories of the Member States under excise-duty suspension arrangements are to be accompanied by a document completed by the consignor.

(3)Commission Regulation (EC) No 684/2009 (5) lays down the structure and content of the accompanying document referred to in Directive (EU) 2020/262 and the procedure for its use.

(4)In order to improve checks and allow the movement of excise goods inside the Union to be simplified, a computerised system was established by means of Decision No 1152/2003/EC.

(5)It is necessary to further maintain and develop the computerised system for monitoring the movement of excise goods in order to allow Member States to obtain real-time information on such movement and to carry out the requisite manual and automated checks, including checks during the movement of excise goods within the meaning of Chapters IV and V of Directive (EU) 2020/262 and Chapter IV of Council Regulation (EU) No 389/2012 (6).

(6)The modification, extension and operation of the computerised system should allow the intra-Union movement of excise goods under duty suspension as well as the movement of excise goods which have already been released for consumption in the territory of one Member State and are moved to the territory of another Member State in order to be delivered for commercial purposes.

(7)Modifying and extending the computerised system serves to enhance the internal-market aspects of the movement of excise goods. Any fiscal aspects relating to the movement of excise goods should be addressed by amending Directive (EU) 2020/262 or Regulation (EU) No 389/2012. This Decision does not prejudice the legal basis of any future amendments to Directive (EU) 2020/262 or Regulation (EU) No 389/2012.

(8)It is necessary to define the division between the Union and non-Union components of the computerised system, as well as 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.

(9)In order to ensure uniform conditions for the implementation of the measures necessary for the modification, extension and operation of the computerised system, implementing powers should be conferred on the Commission. Those powers should be exercised in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council (7).

(10)Arrangements should be made for evaluating the implementation of the computerised system for monitoring excise goods.

(11)Before a new extension of the computerised system is operational, and given the problems which have been experienced, the Commission, in collaboration with Member States, and taking account of the views of the trade sectors concerned, should investigate whether any current paper-based systems are still suitable.

(12)The costs of the computerised system should be shared between the Union and the Member States.

(13)Due to the size and complexity of the computerised system, it is necessary that both the Union and the Member States provide human and financial resources 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 the national components at the lowest possible cost, and they should promote all measures aimed at preserving their competitiveness.

(14)Since the objective of this Decision, namely to provide a basis for the governance of further automations of processes set out in Union legislation on excise duties, cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States but can rather, by reason of ensuring the proper functioning of the internal market, be better achieved at Union level, the Union may adopt measures, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty on European Union. In accordance with the principle of proportionality as set out in that Article, this Decision does not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve that objective,