(1)

Regulation (EC) No 3223/94 lays down, pursuant to the outcome of the Uruguay Round multilateral trade negotiations, the criteria whereby the Commission fixes the standard values for imports from third countries, in respect of the products and periods stipulated in the Annex thereto.

(2)

In compliance with the above criteria, the standard import values must be fixed at the levels set out in the Annex to this Regulation,

(1)

Articles 45, 59 and 61 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1623/2000 (2) set certain dates for the distillation of the by-products of winemaking. In view of the very large harvest in 2005/2006, certain Member States are experiencing practical difficulties in completing the distillation by the deadlines laid down. Those deadlines should therefore be extended.

(2)

Article 63a of Regulation (EC) No 1623/2000 concerning the distillation of wine into potable alcohol fixes a percentage of production which producers may offer for this type of distillation. That percentage should be fixed for the 2006/2007 wine year.

(3)

Regulation (EC) No 1623/2000 should therefore be amended accordingly.

(4)

To ensure continuity of operations by the producers concerned, this Regulation should apply from 16 July 2006.

(5)

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for Wine,

1.

The fourth subparagraph of Article 45(1) is replaced by the following:

‘As an exception to the first subparagraph, for the 2004/2005 and 2005/2006 wine years the date referred to therein shall be postponed to 31 August of the following wine year.’

2.

The third paragraph of Article 59 is replaced by the following:

‘As an exception to the first paragraph, for the 2004/2005 and 2005/2006 wine years the date referred to therein shall be postponed to 15 September of the following wine year.’

3.

The second subparagraph of Article 61(3) is replaced by the following:

‘However, for the 2004/2005 and 2005/2006 wine years the date referred to in the first subparagraph shall be postponed to 15 September of the following wine year.’

4.

The last sentence of the first subparagraph of Article 63a(2) is replaced by the following:

‘For the 2004/2005, 2005/2006 and 2006/2007 wine years, that percentage shall be 25 %.’

(1)

Since several distillation measures are simultaneously in place, the Italian authorities have found that neither the distilleries nor the supervisory authorities have sufficient capacity to ensure proper distillation performance. To ensure the effectiveness of the measure introduced by Commission Regulation (EC) No 944/2006 (2), the period specified for delivering table wines to the distillery should be extended to 28 February 2007 and the period specified for delivering alcohol to the intervention agency should be extended to 31 May 2007. In the case of quality wines psr, the period specified for delivery to the distillery should be extended to 15 September 2006 and the period specified for delivering alcohol to the intervention agency should be extended to 16 October 2006.

(2)

Regulation (EC) No 944/2006 should therefore be amended accordingly.

(3)

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for Wine,

(1)

Council Regulation (EC) No 51/2006 of 22 December 2005 fixing for 2006 the fishing opportunities and associated conditions for certain fish stocks and groups of fish stocks applicable in Community waters and for Community vessels, in waters where catch limitations are required (3), lays down quotas for 2006.

(2)

According to the information received by the Commission, catches of the stock referred to in the Annex to this Regulation by vessels flying the flag of or registered in the Member State referred to therein have exhausted the quota allocated for 2006.

(3)

It is therefore necessary to prohibit fishing for that stock and its retention on board, transhipment and landing,

(1)

The representative prices and additional duties applicable to imports of white sugar, raw sugar and certain syrups for the 2006/2007 marketing year are fixed by Commission Regulation (EC) No 1002/2006 (3). These prices and duties have been last amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 1211/2006 (4).

(2)

The data currently available to the Commission indicate that the said amounts should be changed in accordance with the rules and procedures laid down in Regulation (EC) No 951/2006,

(1)

In order to combat tax evasion or avoidance and to simplify the procedure for charging value added tax, certain derogations covering similar problems were granted under varying terms to individual Member States by the Council pursuant to Article 27(1) of Sixth Council Directive 77/388/EEC of 17 May 1977 on the harmonisation of the laws of the Member States relating to turnover taxes — Common system of value added tax: uniform basis of assessment (3). A solution to the said problems should be made available to all Member States through incorporation into that Directive. Those measures should be proportionate and limited to countering the problem concerned. Given that the Member States have different needs, that incorporation should be limited to extending the option of adopting the rules concerned to all Member States, as and when the need arises.

(2)

Member States should be able to take action to ensure that measures provided for in Directive 77/388/EEC relating to the taxable person and the transfer of a business as a going concern are not being exploited to evade and avoid tax.

(3)

It should be possible for Member States to intervene as regards the value of supplies and acquisitions in specific limited circumstances, to ensure that there is no loss of tax through the use of connected parties to derive tax benefits.

(4)

It should be possible for Member States to include, within the taxable amount of a transaction which involves the working of investment gold provided by a customer, the value of that investment gold where, by virtue of being worked, the gold loses its status of investment gold.

(5)

It should be emphasised that certain services with the nature of capital items may be included in the scheme which allows the adjustment of deductions for capital items over the lifetime of the asset, according to its actual use.

(6)

Member States should be able, in specific cases, to designate the recipient of supplies as the person responsible for paying and accounting for value added tax. This should assist Member States in simplifying the rules and countering tax evasion and avoidance in identified sectors and on certain types of transactions.

(7)

Directive 77/388/EEC should therefore be amended accordingly.

(8)

Consequently, Member States should not be able to continue to avail themselves of individual derogations granted to them by certain Council Decisions adopted pursuant to Article 27(1) of Directive 77/388/EEC and which are covered by the provisions in this Directive. The Decisions concerned should therefore be explicitly repealed. This Directive should not affect measures applied by Member States pursuant to Article 27(5) of Directive 77/388/EEC; nor should it affect derogations which have been granted pursuant to Article 27(1) of that Directive and which have not been repealed by this Directive.

(9)

The application of certain provisions in this Directive should be optional and they should allow Member States a certain degree of discretion. Where appropriate for reasons of transparency, it should be provided that Member States should inform the other Member States through the Advisory Committee on value added tax established under Article 29 of Directive 77/388/EEC of any national law adopted pursuant to those provisions. Such information should not be necessary with respect to national measures taken under a Decision which is repealed by this Directive, or which expires at the date of this Directive's entry into force, but which a Member State continues to apply under the provisions of this Directive,

1.

In Article 4(4), the following subparagraph shall be added:

‘A Member State exercising the option provided for in the second subparagraph, may adopt any measures needed to prevent tax evasion or avoidance through the use of this provision.’.

2.

In Article 5(8) the second sentence shall be replaced by the following:

‘Where appropriate, Member States may, in cases where the recipient is not wholly liable to tax, take the measures necessary to prevent distortion of competition. They may also adopt any measures needed to prevent tax evasion or avoidance through the use of this provision.’.

3.

Article 11(A) shall be amended as follows:

4.

Article 17(4), in the version set out in Article 28f(1), shall be amended as follows:

5.

In Article 18(1)(d), in the version set out in Article 28f(2), ‘Article 21(1)’ shall be replaced by ‘Article 21(1) or Article 21(2)(c)’.

6.

In Article 20(4), the following subparagraph shall be added:

‘Member States may also apply paragraphs 2 and 3 to services which have characteristics similar to those normally attributed to capital goods.’.

7.

In Article 21(2), in the version set out in Article 28g, the following point shall be added:

8.

Annex M set out in Annex I to this Directive shall be added.

(1)

The Annex to Protocol 1 to the Agreement specifies the customs duties and other conditions to be applied on import into the Community of certain fish and fishery products originating in and coming from the Faeroes.

(2)

Under this Annex, the Community has granted concessions for shrimps, prawns and Norway lobsters, prepared or preserved, from the Faeroe Islands, subject to an annual tariff quota of 3 000 tonnes.

(3)

The authorities of the Faeroe Islands have requested that the tariff concessions granted by the Community for shrimps, prawns and Norway lobsters, prepared or preserved, be increased to 6 000 tonnes.

(4)

It is reasonable to authorise such an increase over a period of time to be determined by the degree to which the quota is utilised.

(5)

Under the Annex, the Community has not granted any concession for frozen haddock originating in and coming from the Faeroes.

(6)

The authorities of the Faeroe Islands have requested that frozen haddock be added to the list of fishery products in Table I of the Annex to Protocol 1 that may be imported free of duty into the Community.

(7)

It is reasonable to include frozen haddock in this table,

(1)

The fourth indent of Article 105(2) of the Treaty and the fourth indent of Article 3.1 of the Statute state that one of the basic tasks to be carried out through the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) is to promote the smooth operation of payment systems.

(2)

Article 22 of the Statute states that the European Central Bank (ECB) and national central banks (NCBs) may provide facilities to ensure efficient and sound clearing and payment systems within the Community and with other countries.

(3)

In addition to connection via interlinking or through a bilateral link, a third form of connection to TARGET should be made available as a transitional measure in view of the future set-up of TARGET2. An NCB without its own RTGS system should be given access to the current TARGET infrastructure by remote participation in another NCB’s RTGS system.

(4)

Guideline ECB/2005/16 of 30 December 2005 on a Trans-European Automated Real-time Gross settlement Express Transfer system (TARGET) (1) should be amended to include specific provisions regulating remote participation,

1.

The following definitions are inserted in Article 1:

2.

The following Article 2(3) is inserted: