Regulation 2012/389 - Administrative cooperation in the field of excise duties - Main contents

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 121/1

Council Regulation (EC) No 2073/2004 of 16 November 2004 on administrative cooperation in the field of excise duties (3) provides for a common system whereby, in order to ensure the correct application of legislation on excise duties and to combat the evasion of excise duties and the ensuing distortions in the internal market, Member States assist each other and cooperate with the Commission. A number of changes need to be made to that Regulation in view of experience gathered and in view of recent developments. Given the number of changes thus necessary, the Regulation should be replaced for reasons of clarity.

The completion of the internal market continues to require a system of administrative cooperation in the field of excise duties encompassing all aspects of legislation concerning the application of excise duties to the goods referred to in Article 1 of Council Directive 2008/118/EC of 16 December 2008 concerning the general arrangements for excise duty (4).

In the interests of effectiveness and speed and on grounds of cost, it is essential that the role of electronic means in the exchange of information be enhanced. In view of the repetitive nature of certain requests and the linguistic diversity within the Union, it is important to ensure that standard formats be more widely used in the exchange of information, so that information requests can be more rapidly processed. These requirements can best be met through the more systematic use of the computerised system established under 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 (5). That system now offers broader possibilities than at the time Regulation (EC) No 2073/2004 entered into force, and it will continue to be developed. Member States should thus be required to make use of it whenever possible.

Exchange of information in excise matters is necessary to a very wide extent in order to establish a true picture of the excise affairs of certain persons but, at the same time, Member States are not at liberty to engage in ‘fishing expeditions’ or to request information that is unlikely to be relevant to the excise affairs of a given person or ascertainable group or category of persons.

For the purposes of a proper coordination of information flows, it is necessary to maintain the provisions of Regulation (EC) No 2073/2004 as regards a single point of contact in each Member State. Since more direct contacts between the authorities and officials of the Member States might be necessary for reasons of efficiency, the provisions on delegation and the designation of competent officials should also be maintained.

In order for the necessary information to be available in a timely manner, the provisions of Regulation (EC) No 2073/2004 requiring the requested authority to act as quickly as possible and at the latest within a given time limit should be maintained. However, the time limit for the provision of information already available to the requested Member State...