Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-06-07-Speech-2-340"
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"en.20050607.30.2-340"2
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".
Mr President, today we are debating the proposal for a Council directive amending Articles 7, 8, 9 and 10 of Directive 92/12/EEC. I would remind the House that this Directive sets out general rules for the movement and holding of products that are subject to excise duty. The latter include mainly alcohol and tobacco products, but also liquid fuels. I would further note that Article 27 of the 1992 Directive imposed upon the Commission the duty of submitting a report to the Council on the impact and implementation of Articles 7, 8, 9 and 10 for the period up to 1997. For various reasons outlined by the Commission, the report on the implementation of these articles is only being debated today, after a delay of several years.
Without exception, the amendments we have made serve merely to improve the text and to provide what could be regarded as additional explanations. We support all the Commission’s amendments.
I would remind the House that Article 7 relates to the movement of products subject to excise duty by businesses for commercial purposes, Article 8 deals with the movement of products subject to excise duty by private individuals for their own use and Article 9 identifies the threshold at which excise duty becomes chargeable, as well as providing guide levels intended to help establish whether products which have been transported and which are subject to excise duty are intended for commercial or personal use. Finally, Article 10 gives details of the arrangements for charging excise duty and the country in which it is chargeable, as well as outlining the duties of tax representatives and the conditions of distance sales.
A great many doubts have been expressed regarding the provisions of these articles and their practical implementation, not only by private individuals, travellers and tourists, but also by businesses whose professional activities involve trade in and the movement of excisable products. This was the reason behind the Commission’s decision to propose a number of amendments to these four articles, and its primary aim was to comply with two basic principles.
Firstly, the Commission wished to ensure consistency in the implementation of one of the principles of the single market. I refer to the fact that excise duty on products moved for commercial purposes is to be paid in the country of destination, whereas excise duty on products moved by individuals who have purchased the products for their own use is to be levied in the country of origin.
The main aim of the Commission’s proposed amendments to Article 7 is therefore to define movement for commercial purposes. According to the definition given, movement for commercial purposes is considered to be any movement other than that for personal use. The other amendments to Article 7 serve to simplify the language and to incorporate more accurate terminology. Finally, the Commission has also proposed that Article 7 should include a clear indication of the person from whom excise duty is due.
One of the Commission’s amendments to Article 8 is of crucial importance. I refer to its proposal to remove the need for private individuals to transport products themselves in order to purchase the products in question. Instead, it will be possible for such individuals to place distance orders for products subject to excise duty, and to have them delivered to their place of residence. This also applies to what are known as gifts. It amounts to the introduction of a new principle, whereby movement of products for personal use is permitted not only when the products are transported by the individual in question, but also when they are transported by someone else on his behalf and at his expense.
The Commission is also proposing an important amendment to Article 9, namely that the quantitative limits, which to date have not been used as intended, should be abolished. Finally, the Commission is again proposing to amend Article 10 in such a way as to simplify the procedure.
Your rapporteur is of the opinion that any amendments to EU tax legislation should meet the following four criteria. Firstly, such amendments should reflect the thinking behind the single market, or in other words prevent discrimination. Secondly, they should be simple and transparent, so that they can be easily implemented. Thirdly, they should not cause any major disruption to the tax revenues of individual countries. Fourthly, they should also comply with health standards, provided that the individual Member States have relevant policies in place.
Your rapporteur believes that the Commission’s proposals are a step in the right direction in that they meet these criteria, and I therefore support all of its amendments. Parliament’s amendments primarily involve linguistic changes and improvements to the wording of individual provisions, as well as the incorporation of more accurate terminology. The House has also proposed that, when implementing these provisions, it should be the government authorities of the individual Member States that bear the burden of proof as to whether products are intended for commercial use. Under the current rules, it has all too often been the case that this burden has fallen on travellers, which we believe runs counter to the principles of the common market."@en1
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