Brussels, 22/01/2001 (Agence Europe) - The Finance Ministers of the European Union reached an agreement on Friday afternoon regarding the new provisions on mutual assistance to the recovery of claims, with a view to broadening the scope of the current legislation to direct taxation, national administrative penalties and fines.
The 1976 European directive on the recovery of claims resulting from operations forming part of the system of financing the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF), as well as agricultural levies and customs duties, had already been extended in 1980 to the recovery of VAT and excise duties. Its functioning, however, was considered by the Member States as relatively ineffective. The Fifteen therefore gave the go-ahead for the improvements proposed by the Commission, namely: the direct recognition of the legal title for implementation without prior approval procedure, the reinforcement of legal equality of claims from the claimant Member State compared to the claims of the Member State addressed, the payment of a financial compensation to the Member State addressed, as well as the exclusion of claims that date back too far, with a three-year limit put on the period during which the request for assistance may be made.
The text will be definitively adopted after further consultation of the European Parliament and is expected to take effect on 30 June 2002.