Strasbourg, 26/09/2002 (Agence Europe) - The European Parliament took a stance at first reading on complete computerisation of the system for controlling excisable products, with the adoption without debate of the report by Piia-Noora Kauppi (EPP-ED, Finland). As the rapporteur recalls, the Commission proposed completely computerising the system for the exchange of documents in order to replace the current mechanism, which has become obsolete and which is a burden on enterprise. Piia-Noora Kauppi stresses that the project is both ambitious and complex and notes that the system should link around 80,000 entities to the national administrations. It should cover a total of 16 million transactions for alcohol and tobacco alone and work 24 hours a day. The cost of design, installation and maintenance of the network itself will be taken on by the Community and the national connections by the Member States. The cost is estimated at EUR 35 million for the period when power increases, between 2002 and 2006, and at EUR 4 million annually from the operational phase. In line with its rapporteur, the Parliament introduces amendments that make it compulsory for Member States to finalise a standard application freely available to companies to allow them to connect to the new computerised system. It also calls on the Commission to prepare short term measures with the sectors concerned in order to improve the running of the current system, until the new system becomes operational, in 2007 or 2008 at the earliest. MEPs also ask for candidate countries to be clearly involved in establishing the system in which they would participate after enlargement.