Brussels, 27/04/2001 (Agence Europe) - By adopting the report by Salvador Carriga Polledo (Spanish, EPP-ED), on Wednesday, concerning an amendment to the 1976 Directive on mutual assistance regarding the recovery of agricultural and customs credits, the EP's Committee on Budgetary Control (Cocobu) disputes the change in the legal basis the Council wanted to see introduced in January. According to Cocobu, this proposal has as aim the establishment and functioning of the internal market (Article 95 of the Treaty, involving the co-decision procedure) and contains no tax dimension (Articles 93 and 94 of the Treaty, which simply provides for consultation). Cocobu thus confirms its stance on first reading and asks the Council to forward it its common position. Should the Council stick by this new legal basis, the EP could consider calling for an annulment.
In February 1999, the EP had issued a favourable opinion regarding the Commission's proposal, the legal basis of which was Article 95 of the Treaty. On 17 January of this year, the Council informed the EP that it had decided to change the legal basis and base the draft directive on Articles 93 and 94. This report could be included on the agenda of the EP's plenary session, of 2/3 May in Brussels.