51998AP0442

A4-0442/98

Decision on common position (EC) No 53/98 adopted by the Council with a view to the adoption of a European Parliament and Council Regulation (EC) amending Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 with regard to the external transit procedure (C4-0536/98 - 97/0242(COD))(Codecision procedure: second reading)

The European Parliament,

- having regard to common position (EC) No 53/98 of the Council, C4-0536/98 - 97/0242(COD) ((OJ C 333, 30.10.1998, p. 65.)),

- having regard to its opinion at first reading ((OJ C 167, 1.6.1998, p. 99.)) on the Commission proposal to Parliament and the Council, COM(97)0472 ((OJ C 337, 7.11.1997, p. 52.)),

- having regard to the amended Commission proposal, COM(98)0428 ((OJ C 261, 19.8.1998, p. 15.)),

- having regard to Article 189b(2) of the EC Treaty,

- having regard to Rule 72 of its Rules of Procedure,

- having regard to the recommendation for second reading of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs and Industrial Policy (A4-0442/98),

1. Amends the common position as follows;

2. Calls on the Commission to support Parliament's amendments in the opinion it is required to deliver pursuant to Article 189(2) (d) of the EC Treaty;

3. Calls on the Council to approve all Parliament's amendments, amend its common position accordingly and definitively adopt the act;

4. Instructs its President to forward this decision to the Council and the Commission.

(Amendment 1)

Recital 1a (new)

>Original text>

>Text following EP vote>

(1a) Whereas all decisions taken under the Committee procedure must be transparent for both customs administrations and economic operators;

(Amendment 2)

Recital 2

>Original text>

(2) Whereas it is necessary to define the way in which the customs authorities discharge the procedure, in relation to the place, the time and the conditions under which this procedure ends, in order to establish more clearly the scope and limits of the obligations of the holder of the external transit procedure and to ensure that, in the absence of information capable of establishing that the procedure has ended, the holder remains fully liable;

>Text following EP vote>

(2)

Whereas it is necessary to define the way in which the customs authorities discharge the procedure, in relation to the place, the time and the conditions under which this procedure ends, in order to establish more clearly the scope and limits of the obligations of the holder of the external transit procedure and to ensure that, in the absence of information capable of establishing that the procedure has ended, the holder remains fully liable; whereas it is necessary, in order to increase the security and efficiency of the transit procedures, to improve the discharge by means of operational measures and by implementing provisions to be determined in accordance with the committee procedure, ensuring that customs authorities discharge the procedure in the shortest possible time;