Decision (EU) 2020/263 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 January 2020 on computerising the movement and surveillance of excise goods (recast)

• CELEX: Decision (EU) 2020/263
• Articles: 15

Article 1

1.   This Decision makes provision for the management of the modification, extension and operation of the computerised system used for the movement and surveillance of excise goods referred to in Article 1(1) of Directive (EU) 2020/262 (‘the computerised system’).

2.   The computerised system is intended to:

(a)

permit the electronic transmission of the administrative documents provided for in Directive (EU) 2020/262 and Regulation (EU) No 389/2012, and the improvement of checks;

(b)

improve the functioning of the internal market, by simplifying the intra-Union movement of excise goods and by affording Member States the possibility of monitoring the flows in real time and of carrying out the requisite checks where necessary.

Article 2

Activities relating to the initiation of extension of the computerised system shall begin by 10 February 2021.

Article 3

1.   The computerised system shall be made up of Union and non-Union components.

2.   The Commission shall ensure that in work on the Union components of the computerised system every attention is paid to reusing existing systems as much as possible and ensuring that the computerised system is compatible with other relevant Commission and Member State computerised systems, with the objective of creating an integrated set of computerised systems for the surveillance both of intra-Union movements of excise goods and of movements of excise goods and goods subject to other duties and charges coming from or going to third countries.

3.   The Union components of the computerised system shall be the common specifications, the technical products, the services of the Common Communications Network/Common Systems Interface network, and the coordination services used by all the Member States, to the exclusion of any variant or special feature of any such services designed to meet national requirements.

4.   The non-Union components of the computerised system shall be the national specifications, the national databases forming part of the computerised system, network connections between the Union and non-Union components and any software or equipment which a Member State considers necessary to ensure full use of the computerised system throughout its administration.

Article 4

1.   The Commission shall coordinate the modification, extension and operation of the Union and non-Union components of the computerised system, and in particular:

(a)

the infrastructure and tools needed to guarantee the computerised system’s internal links and overall interoperability;

(b)

the development of a security policy of the highest standard possible in order to prevent unauthorised access to data and to guarantee the integrity of the computerised system;

(c)

the instruments for the exploitation of data to combat fraud.

2.   To achieve the aims set out in paragraph 1, the Commission shall conclude the necessary contracts for the modification and extension of the Union components of the computerised system and shall, in cooperation with the Member States meeting within the Committee referred to in Article 7(1), draw up a master plan and management plans required for the modification, extension and operation of the computerised system.

The master plan and the management plans shall specify the initial and routine tasks which the Commission and each Member State are to perform. The management plans shall specify the completion dates for the tasks required for carrying out each project identified in the master plan.

Article 5

1.   Member States shall complete, by the date specified in the management plans referred to in Article 4(2), the initial and routine tasks allocated to them.

They shall report to the Commission on the results of each task and the date of its completion. The Commission shall in turn inform the Committee referred to in Article 7(1) thereof.

2.   Member States shall not take any action relating to the modification, extension or operation of the computerised system that might affect its internal links and overall interoperability or its functioning as a whole.

Any measure that a Member State wishes to take that could affect either the computerised system’s internal links and overall interoperability or its functioning as a whole shall be taken with the prior agreement of the Commission.

3.   Member States shall inform the Commission regularly of any measure they have taken to enable their respective administrations to make full use of the computerised system. The Commission shall in turn inform the Committee referred to in Article 7(1) thereof.

Article 6

The Commission shall adopt implementing acts establishing the measures necessary for the modification, extension and operation of the computerised system as relating to the matters referred to in Article 4(1) and the second subparagraph of Article 5(2). Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 7(2). Those implementing acts shall not affect the Union provisions in relation to the raising and checking of indirect taxes or administrative cooperation and mutual assistance in matters of indirect taxation.

Article 7

1.   The Commission shall be assisted by the Committee on Excise Duty. That committee shall be a committee within the meaning of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011.

2.   Where reference is made to this paragraph, Article 5 of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 shall apply.

Article 8

1.   The Commission shall verify that the measures financed from the general budget of the European Union are being carried out correctly and in compliance with the provisions of this Decision.

It shall regularly, in collaboration with the Member States, meeting in the Committee referred to in Article 7(1), monitor the various development and deployment stages of the computerised system with a view to determining whether the objectives pursued have been achieved and to issuing guidelines on how to increase the effectiveness of the activities involved in implementing the computerised system.

2.   By 10 February 2025 and every five years thereafter, the Commission shall present a report to the European Parliament and the Council on the implementation and operation of the computerised system.

The report shall set out, inter alia, the methods and criteria to be used in the later evaluation of how the computerised system is functioning.

Article 9

The countries that have applied for membership of the Union shall be kept informed by the Commission of the development and deployment of the computerised system and may, if they so desire, take part in the tests to be carried out.

Article 10

1.   The costs of modifying and extending the computerised system shall be split between the Union and the Member States in accordance with paragraphs 2 and 3.

2.   The Union shall bear the costs of the design, acquisition, installation and maintenance of the Union components of the computerised system and the ongoing operating costs of those Union components installed in Commission premises, or in those of a subcontractor designated by the Commission.

3.   Member States shall bear the costs of modifying, extending and operating the non-Union components of the computerised system and the ongoing operating costs of those Union components installed in their premises, or in those of a subcontractor designated by the Member State concerned.

Article 11

1.   The annual appropriations, including appropriations assigned to the use and operation of the computerised system after the implementation period, shall be authorised by the budgetary authority within the limits of the financial perspective set out in Regulation (EU) No 1286/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council  ( 8 ) .

2.   Member States shall estimate and make available the budgets and human resources needed to meet their obligations described in Article 5. The Commission and the Member States shall provide the human, budgetary and technical resources needed to modify, extend, operate and further develop the computerised system.

Article 12

Decision No 1152/2003/EC is repealed.

References to the repealed Decision shall be construed as references to this Decision and shall be read in accordance with the correlation table in the Annex.

Article 13

This Decision shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union .

Article 14

This Decision is addressed to the Member States.

Schedules & Appendices

ANNEX CORRELATION TABLE

ANNEX

CORRELATION TABLE

Decision No 1152/2003/EC

This Decision

Article 1

Article 1

Article 2, first paragraph

–

Article 2, second paragraph

Article 2

Article 3

Article 3

Article 4

Article 4

Article 5

Article 5

Article 6

Article 6

Article 7(1)

Article 7(1)

Article 7(2)

Article 7(2)

Article 7(3)

–

Article 8(1)

Article 8(1)

Article 8(2)

–

Article 8(3)

Article 8(2)

Article 9

Article 9

Article 10

Article 10

Article 11(1), first subparagraph

–

Article 11(1), second subparagraph

Article 11(1)

Article 11(2)

Article 11(2)

–

Article 12

Article 12

Article 13

Article 13

Article 14

–

Annex