31.5.2018   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 134/1

(1)

In order to ensure uniform application of the Combined Nomenclature annexed to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 (2), it is necessary to adopt measures concerning the classification of the goods referred to in the Annex to this Regulation.

(2)

Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 has laid down the general rules for the interpretation of the Combined Nomenclature. Those rules apply also to any other nomenclature which is wholly or partly based on it or which adds any additional subdivision to it and which is established by specific provisions of the Union, with a view to the application of tariff and other measures relating to trade in goods.

(3)

Pursuant to those general rules, the goods described in column (1) of the table set out in the Annex should be classified under the CN code indicated in column (2), by virtue of the reasons set out in column (3) of that table.

(4)

It is appropriate to provide that binding tariff information issued in respect of the goods concerned by this Regulation which does not conform to this Regulation may, for a certain period, continue to be invoked by the holder in accordance with Article 34(9) of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013. That period should be set at three months.

(5)

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Customs Code Committee,

31.5.2018   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 134/5

(1)

By Regulation (EU) No 791/2011 (2) the Council imposed a residual anti-dumping duty of 62,9 % on imports of certain open mesh fabrics of glass fibres, originating in the People's Republic of China. Following an anti-circumvention investigation under Article 13 of the basic Regulation, these measures were later extended to imports consigned from India and Indonesia, whether declared as originating in India and Indonesia or not, by Council Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1371/2013 (3) (‘the extended measures’). By the same Regulation, an Indian exporting producer was exempted from these extended measures. Later, by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/1507 (4) another Indian exporting producer was also exempted from the extended measures.

(2)

Following an anti-circumvention investigation pursuant to Article 13 of the basic Regulation, the anti-dumping measures were extended also to Malaysia (5), Taiwan and Thailand (6).

(3)

The measures currently in force are anti-dumping duties imposed by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/1993 (7) following an expiry review that confirmed the continuation of the measures.

(4)

The European Commission (‘the Commission’) subsequently received a request for an exemption from the anti-dumping measures applicable to imports of the product under review originating in the People's Republic of China, as extended to imports consigned from India, whether declared as originating in India or not, under Articles 11(4) and 13(4) of the basic Regulation.

(5)

The request was lodged on 26 January 2017 by SPG Glass Fibre PVT. LTD (‘the applicant’), an exporting producer of the product under review in India (‘the country concerned’). This request was limited in scope to the possibility of obtaining an exemption from the extended measures as far as the applicant is concerned.

(6)

The Commission examined the evidence submitted by the applicant and considered it sufficient to justify the initiation of an investigation pursuant to Articles 11(4) and 13(4) of the basic Regulation. The Commission thus initiated an investigation on 1 September 2017 by publishing Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/1514 (8) in the Official Journal of the European Union.

(7)

Furthermore, pursuant to Article 3 of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/1514, the Commission directed customs authorities to take the appropriate steps to register imports of the product under review consigned from India and produced and sold for export to the Union by the applicant, in accordance with Article 14(5) of the basic Regulation.

(8)

The product subject to the present review is open mesh fabrics of glass fibres, of a cell size of more than 1,8 mm both in length and in width and weighing more than 35 g/m2, excluding glass fibre discs, originating in the People's Republic of China or consigned from India, whether declared as originating in India or not (‘the product under review’), currently falling within CN codes ex 7019 51 00 and ex 7019 59 00.

(9)

The reporting period covered the period from 1 July 2016 to 30 June 2017. Data was collected from the investigation period that led to the extended measures (1 April 2012 to 31 March 2013) until the end of the reporting period (‘the review investigation period’).

(10)

The Commission officially advised the Union industry, the applicant and the Government of India of the initiation of the review. Interested parties were invited to make their views known and were informed of the possibility to request a hearing. No comments were received, nor did interested parties request a hearing with the Commission.

(11)

The Commission sent a questionnaire to the applicant and received a reply within the given deadline. The Commission sought and verified on the spot all the information necessary for the purposes of the review. A verification visit was carried out at the premises of the applicant in Mumbai and in Umbergaon, India.

(12)

The applicant is SPG Glass Fibre PVT. LTD an exporting producer of the product under review in India.

(13)

The Commission examined whether the conditions for granting an exemption under Article 11(4) and 13(4) of the basic Regulation were fulfilled.

(14)

The investigation confirmed that the applicant had not exported the product under review to the Union during the investigation period of the anti-circumvention investigation that led to the extended measures, that is 1 April 2012 to 31 March 2013.

(15)

The investigation confirmed that the applicant was not related to any Chinese exporters or producers subject to the anti-dumping measures.

(16)

Furthermore, the investigation confirmed that the applicant is a genuine producer of the product under review not engaged in circumvention practices. The applicant is an integrated producer purchasing domestically produced glass spheres for the production of glass fibres and using the latter as the raw material for open mesh fabrics. The finished product has subsequently been sold on the domestic market in a continuous manner. More recently, as the applicant is aiming to export its goods, some export transactions to countries outside the European Union have taken place.

(17)

The investigation confirmed that the applicant was not purchasing the finished product under review from the People's Republic of China in order to resell or tranship to the Union.

(18)

The applicant was also able to produce written evidence of a contractually binding nature containing an obligation to ship the product under review to a customer in the Union. Actual shipments have not yet taken place, since it has been mutually agreed to await the outcome of this proceeding before proceeding with shipments.

(19)

The findings above were disclosed to the applicant and the Union industry, which were given the opportunity to provide comments. The applicant submitted that it agreed to the Commission's findings.

(20)

Comments on disclosure were made by the Union industry, objecting to the exemption. In particular, it expressed doubts concerning the integrated nature of SPG's production, and the finding that the raw materials were not of Chinese origin. It also contested that SPG would endeavour to produce glass fibre itself as this would entail an outdated melting process with prohibitively high energy costs. It complained that the public file did not allow it to address these concerns, especially in relation to earlier data on the record.

(21)

The Commission added an explanatory note to the public file which confirms that SPG's sourcing of C-type glass fibre yarn and roving from China was replaced by SPG's own production of glass fibres from glass spheres, sourced in India, as from 2016 when the appropriate machinery was purchased, and thus made SPG an integrated producer of the product concerned. These facts and the accompanying increase in energy costs were confirmed during the on-spot verification. However, the findings do not allow for judging the appropriateness of the production process. The Union industry's claims were therefore rejected.

(22)

In accordance with the findings described in recitals (13) to (18), the Commission concludes that the applicant fulfils the conditions for an exemption under Articles 11(4) and 13(4) of the basic Regulation and should be added to the list of companies that are exempted from the anti-dumping duty imposed by Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/1993.

(23)

The exemption from the extended measures granted to imports of the product under review produced by the applicant, in accordance with Article 13(4) of the basic Regulation, remains valid on condition that the facts as finally ascertained justify the exemption. Should new prima facie evidence indicate otherwise, an investigation may be initiated by the Commission to establish whether withdrawal of the exemption is warranted.

(24)

The exemption from the extended measures granted to imports of the product under review produced by the applicant is made on the basis of the findings of the present review. This exemption is thus exclusively applicable to imports of the product under review consigned from India and produced by the abovementioned specific legal entity. Imported product under review produced by any company not specifically mentioned in Article 1(3) of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/1993 with its name, including entities related to those specifically mentioned, should not benefit from the exemption and should be subject to the residual duty rate as imposed by that Regulation.

(25)

Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/1993 should be amended to include SPG Glass Fibre PVT. LTD in its Article 1(3).

(26)

In order to benefit from the exemption an invoice conforming to certain requirements should be produced to the customs authorities. It is noted that this same requirement is applicable to Montex Glass Fibre Industries Pvt.Ltd and to Pyrotek India Pvt. Ltd These companies have already received an exemption from the measures in force. As that condition was not reproduced in Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/1993, the omission is corrected through this Regulation.

(27)

This Regulation is in accordance with the opinion of the Committee established by Article 15(1) of Regulation (EU) 2016/1036.

(1)

Article 1(3) is replaced by the following:

‘3.   The definitive anti-dumping duty applicable to imports originating in the People's Republic of China, as set out in paragraph 2, is hereby extended to imports of the same open mesh fabrics consigned from India and Indonesia, whether declared as originating in India and Indonesia or not (TARIC codes 7019510014, 7019510015, 7019590014 and 7019590015) with the exception of those produced by Montex Glass Fibre Industries Pvt. Ltd (TARIC additional code B942), Pyrotek India Pvt. Ltd (TARIC additional code C051), and SPG Glass Fibre Pvt. Ltd (TARIC additional code C205), to imports of the same open mesh fabrics consigned from Malaysia, whether declared as originating in Malaysia or not (TARIC codes 7019510011 and 7019590011) and to imports of the same open mesh fabrics consigned from Taiwan and Thailand, whether declared as originating in Taiwan and Thailand or not (TARIC codes 7019510012, 7019510013, 7019590012 and 7019590013).

The application of the exemption granted to Montex Glass Fibre Industries Pvt. Ltd, Pyrotek India Pvt. Ltd and SPG Glass Fibre PVT. Ltd shall be conditional upon presentation to the customs authorities of the Member States of a valid commercial invoice, which shall conform to the requirements set out in Annex II to this Regulation. If no such invoice is presented, the anti-dumping duty as imposed by paragraph 1 shall apply.’

(2)

The text in Annex to this regulation shall be added as Annex II.

31.5.2018   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 134/10

(1)

In accordance with Article 193 of Directive 2006/112/EC, any taxable person carrying out a taxable supply of goods or services, as a general rule, is liable for the payment of value added tax (VAT) to the tax authorities.

(2)

By letter registered with the Commission on 13 July 2017, Hungary requested an authorisation to introduce a measure derogating from Article 193 of Directive 2006/112/EC (‘the special measure’) regarding the person liable for payment of VAT in case of certain supplies carried out by a taxable person subject to liquidation or any other proceedings legally establishing its insolvency.

(3)

In accordance with the second subparagraph of Article 395(2) of Directive 2006/112/EC, by letters dated 15 January 2018 the Commission transmitted the request submitted by Hungary to the other Member States. By letter dated 16 January 2018, the Commission notified Hungary that it had all the information necessary to consider the request.

(4)

Hungary claims that taxable persons in liquidation or under insolvency procedure frequently do not pay the VAT due to the tax authorities. At the same time the purchaser, being a taxable person with the right of deduction, can still deduct the VAT incurred, thus negatively impacting the budget and financing the liquidation. Hungary also registered cases of fraud whereby companies in liquidation would issue fictitious invoices to active companies and greatly reduce their payable tax without the guarantee that the issuer would pay the VAT due.

(5)

In accordance with point (g) of Article 199(1) of Directive 2006/112/EC, Member States may provide that the person liable for the payment of VAT is the taxable person to whom the supply of immovable property sold by a judgement debtor in a compulsory sale procedure is made (‘the reverse charge mechanism’). To remedy the losses to public revenues, Hungary has requested a derogation from Article 193 of Directive 2006/112/EC to be authorised in order to introduce the reverse charge mechanism to other supplies by taxable persons under insolvency procedure, namely the supply of capital goods and the supply of other goods or services with an open market value exceeding HUF 100 000.

(6)

On the basis of information provided by Hungary, designating the recipient being a taxable person as the person liable for the payment of VAT in those particular cases will simplify the procedure for collecting VAT and prevent tax evasion and avoidance. Hungary considers that the special measure will also limit losses to public revenues and will result in generating additional revenues.

(7)

Hungary should therefore be authorised to apply the reverse charge mechanism to the supply of capital goods and the supply of other goods or services with an open market value exceeding HUF 100 000 by a taxable person subject to liquidation or any other proceedings legally establishing its insolvency.

(8)

The special measure should be limited in time.

(9)

Given the scope and novelty of the special measure, it is important to evaluate its impact. Therefore, if Hungary would consider an extension of the special measure beyond 2021, it should submit to the Commission a report including a review of the special measure together with the extension request by 31 December 2020 at the latest.

(10)

The special measure will have only a negligible effect on the overall amount of tax revenue collected at the stage of final consumption and will have no adverse impact on the Union's own resources accruing from VAT,

(a)

the supply of capital goods by a taxable person subject to liquidation or any other proceedings legally establishing its insolvency;

(b)

the supply of other goods and services with an open market value exceeding HUF 100 000 at the time of supply by a taxable person subject to liquidation or any other proceedings legally establishing its insolvency.

31.5.2018   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 134/12

(1)

The European Commission adopted in July 2012 a scientific information package, consisting of the communication ‘Towards better access to scientific information: Boosting the benefits of public investments in research’ (1), and of Commission Recommendation 2012/417/EU (2). Recommendation 2012/417/EU states that the Commission will review the progress made across the Union to assess whether further action is needed to achieve the objectives laid down.

(2)

The communication ‘A Digital Single Market Strategy for Europe’ (3) highlights the importance of data dissemination as a catalyst for economic growth, innovation and digitisation across all economic sectors, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises (and start-ups) and for society as a whole. It recognises that big data and high-performance computing are changing the way research is performed and knowledge is shared, as part of a transition towards a more efficient and responsive open science (4). It announces that the Commission would encourage access to public data to help drive innovation and work towards a research open science cloud as part of the European Cloud Initiative. In its mid-term review of the Digital Single Market Strategy (5), the Commission announces its intention to further improve the ‘accessibility and re-use of public and publicly funded data’.

(3)

The communication on the European Cloud Initiative ‘Building a competitive data knowledge and economy in Europe’ (6) presents the rational and broad plan for developing the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) as a trusted, open environment for the scientific community for storing, sharing and re-using scientific data and results. It also announces the Commission would review Recommendation 2012/417/EU on access to and preservation of scientific information to encourage scientific data sharing and the creation of incentive schemes, rewards systems and education and training programmes for researchers and businesses to share data. The Staff Working Document ‘Implementation Roadmap for the EOSC’ (7) presents the results of the exploration with Member States and stakeholders of possible governance and financing mechanisms for the EOSC and further details the action lines for developing the EOSC as a federation of research data infrastructures.

(4)

Directive 2003/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (8) establishes the principle that all accessible data held by a public sector body need to also be re-useable for commercial and non-commercial purposes by all interested parties under non-discriminatory conditions for comparable categories of re-use and at the marginal cost linked to the distribution of the data, at maximum.

(5)

Open access (9) policies aim to provide researchers and the public at large with access to peer-reviewed scientific publications, research data and other research outputs free of charge in an open and non-discriminatory manner as early as possible in the dissemination process, and enable the use and re-use of scientific research results. Open access helps enhance quality, reduce the need for unnecessary duplication of research, speed up scientific progress, help to combat scientific fraud, and can overall favour economic growth and innovation. Beside open access, data management planning is becoming a standard scientific practice.

(6)

Open access is a means of dissemination for researchers who may decide to publish their work, in particular in the context of publicly-funded research. Licensing solutions should aim at facilitating the dissemination and re-use of scientific publications.

(7)

Preservation of scientific research results is in the public interest. It has traditionally been under the responsibility of libraries or archives, especially national legal deposit libraries. The volume of research results generated is constantly growing. Mechanisms, infrastructures and software solutions should be in place to enable long-term preservation of research results in digital form. Sustainable funding for preservation is crucial as curation costs for digitised content are still relatively high. Given the importance of preservation for the future use of research results, the establishment or reinforcement of policies in this area should be recommended to Member States.

(8)

Technological progress has allowed for the creation of web-based research infrastructures set up by national governments, universities or research organisations. They support the objectives of this Recommendation by helping researchers to manage the results of their research and enabling dissemination. The communication on the European Cloud Initiative announced that ‘the European Open Science Cloud will start by federating existing scientific data infrastructures, today scattered across disciplines and Member States.’ It is appropriate to identify and recommend the measures at national level that should enable proper functioning and use of the EOSC.

(9)

Technological progress has over time caused a major shift in the world of science towards increasingly collaborative methods, and has steadily contributed to an increasing volume of scientific material. In a scientific approach that is becoming increasingly collaborative and transparent, it should be ensured that researchers at all stages of their education and career have access to professional development, including through higher education programmes. They should also have the possibility to develop the appropriate skills to fully engage with open science, as outlined by the ‘Digital Education Action Plan’ (10).

(10)

Incentives and rewards are important aspects in a professional career. Although researchers are encouraged to move across borders, disciplines and sectors, and to participate in the culture of sharing their results, this is often not rewarded or reflected in their professional career development. Transparent and responsible indicators are being developed to support the implementation of open science practices in modern universities. Upgraded rewarding mechanisms that take into account new generation metrics could be used to better measure the quality of European research and provide a valuable incentive for researchers to share the result of their research, and for universities to become more entrepreneurial while fostering competition within the internal market.

(11)

Member States should continue to support open science and open access, as stated in the Council Conclusions on ‘open, data-intensive and networked research as a driver for faster and wider innovation’ (11) and on ‘the transition towards an open science system’ (12).

(12)

The move towards open access is a worldwide endeavour. Member States have been part of this endeavour and should be supported in enhancing an open, collaborative research environment based on reciprocity at a global level. Open science is a key feature of Member States' policies for responsible research and for open innovation. As new digital technologies become available, research and funding policies should adapt to this new environment.

(13)

The Commission has been leading by example to maximise access to and re-use of research results generated in an open science environment, including in the Framework Programmes, and by applying an open data policy to the research data of the Commission's Joint Research Centre.

(14)

There have been many advances in the areas dealt with in Recommendation 2012/417/EU and in the other documents listed in the preceding recitals, but not all targets have been met and progress has been uneven among Member States. A greater effort by all Member States is needed in order to make the most of Europe's research and innovation potential.

(15)

This Recommendation builds on and replaces Recommendation 2012/417/EU,

1.

Member States should ensure, in compliance with the EU acquis on copyright and related rights, that as a result of these policies or action plans:

2.

3.

Member States should ensure that, as a result of these policies or action plans:

4.

5.

Member States should ensure that, as a result of those policies or action plans:

6.

Member States should ensure that, as a result of these policies or national action plans:

7.

8.

Member States should ensure that, as a result of those policies or action plans:

9.

Member States should ensure that, as a result of those policies or action plans:

10.

Member States should ensure that:

11.

12.

31.5.2018   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 134/19