51997PC0433

Proposal for a European Parliament and Council Decision amending the Decision of 19 December 1996 adopting an action programme for customs in the Community (Customs 2000) (97/C 310/03) COM(97) 433 final - 97/0228(COD)

(Submitted by the Commission on 4 September 1997)

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 100a thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee,

1. Whereas the Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 December 1996 adopting an action programme for customs in the Community (Customs 2000) (1) recognized that computerization of customs procedures and controls was of prime importance for management of the customs union in the context of the single market;

2. Whereas the Customs 2000 Decision requires the Community and the Member States to increase the use of computer systems as rapidly as possible, including use of the most up-to-date techniques for electronic data exchange, so that the customs administrations of the Member States may operate as efficiently and effectively as a single administration;

3. Whereas the IDA programme established by the Council Decision of 6 November 1995 on a Community contribution for telematic interchange of data between administrations in the Community (2) provided, inter alia for the financing of computerized data exchange programmes in the customs sector; whereas the said programme will end on 31 December 1997;

4. Whereas in adopting the 1997 budget the Budgetary Authority brought all Customs 2000 measures, including Community customs computerization projects, together under heading B5-303 (Customs 2000) of the Commission budget;

5. Whereas the most appropriate channel for the financing of computerized data exchange systems in the customs sector is therefore the Customs 2000 programme;

6. Whereas the Decision of Parliament and the Council of 19 December 1996 should be amended accordingly,

HAVE ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

Decision No 210/97/EC is hereby amended as follows:

1. The text of the first subparagraph of Article 18 (1) is replaced by the following:

'Without prejudice to actions for which funding is provided under other Community programmes, the financial framework for the implementation of this programme for the period 1 January 1996 to 31 December 2000 is hereby set at ECU 85 million in accordance with the detailed procedures annexed hereto`.

2. The Annex is accordingly replaced by the following:

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Article 2

This Decision is addressed to the Member States.

(1) Decision No 210/97/EC (OJ L 33, 4. 2. 1997, p. 24).

(2) Decision 95/468/EC (OJ L 269, 11. 11. 1995, p. 23).