PURPOSE: temporarily suspend the autonomous Common Customs Tariff duties on imports of certain industrial products into the autonomous regions of the Azores and Madeira.

LEGISLATIVE ACT: Council Regulation (EU) No 973/2010 temporarily suspending the autonomous Common Customs Tariff duties on imports of certain industrial products into the autonomous regions of the Azores and Madeira.

CONTENT: The Council adopted a regulation temporarily suspending, from 1 November 2010 to 2 November 2020, tariff duties on imports of certain industrial products into the autonomous regions of Madeira and the Azores

In August and December 2007 the regional authorities of the Azores and Madeira requested, with the support of the Portuguese Government, an autonomous suspension of the Common Customs Tariff duties for a number of products. They justified their requests on the grounds that, in view of the remoteness of those islands, economic operators in the Azores and Madeira are at a severe commercial disadvantage, which has negative effects on demographic trends, employment and social and economic developments.

The local economies of the Azores and Madeira are to a large extent dependant on national and international tourism, a fairly volatile economic resource, which is determined by factors on which the local authorities and the Portuguese Government have hardly any influence. As a result, the economic development of the Azores and Madeira is severely restrained. In these circumstances it is necessary to support those economic sectors which are less dependent on the tourist industries in order to compensate the fluctuations of the tourist sector and thus to stabilise local employment.

Council Regulation (EEC) No 1657/93 temporarily suspending the autonomous Common Customs Tariff duties on certain industrial products intended to equip the free zones of the Azores and Madeira did not have the desired effect in the last years before its expiry on 31 December 2008. The scope of commercial sectors benefiting from the suspensions should therefore cover the fishery, agricultural, industrial and service sectors.

In order to ensure that the suspensions laid down in this Regulation have an economic impact, it is appropriate to extend the range of products benefiting from the suspensions to finished goods for agricultural, commercial or industrial use, as well as to raw materials, parts and components used for agricultural purposes, industrial transformation or maintenance.

In order to give a long-term perspective to investors and enable economic operators to reach a level of industrial and commercial activity which stabilises the economic and social environment in the regions concerned, it is appropriate to suspend in full the Common Customs Tariff duties for certain goods for a period of 10 years as from 1 November 2010 .

In order to allow efficient operation of the suspensions, the authorities of the Azores and Madeira should take the necessary implementing measures and inform the Commission thereof. The Commission is permitted to adopt, if necessary, temporary measures designed to prevent any speculative movement of deflection of trade until a definitive solution for that movement will be adopted by the Council.

ENTRY INTO FORCE: 02/11/2010.

DATE OF APPLICATION: 01/11/2010.

Regulation 2010/973
OJ L 285 30.10.2010, p. 0004

The European Parliament adopted by 629 votes to 7, with 14 abstentions, a legislative resolution amending, under the consultation procedure, the proposal for a Council regulation temporarily suspending autonomous Common Customs Tariff duties on imports of certain industrial products into the autonomous regions of Madeira and the Azores.

The European Parliament has been once again consulted on this proposal. The amendments aim to give the Commission the power to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 290 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) with a view to making changes and the necessary technical adjustments to the list of goods covered by the temporary suspension.

The amendments adopted in plenary aim to amend the relevant provisions inserted into the text by Council so as to ensure Parliament is informed of any changes Council makes to the Status of the delegated acts.

T7-0294/2010

A7-0232/2010

A7-0232/2010

The Committee on Regional Development adopted the report drawn up by Danuta Maria HÜBNER (EPP, PL) amending, under the consultation procedure, the proposal for a Council regulation temporarily suspending autonomous Common Customs Tariff duties on imports of certain industrial products into the autonomous regions of Madeira and the Azores.

The European Parliament has been once again consulted on this proposal. The amendments aim to give the Commission the power to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 290 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) with a view to making changes and the necessary technical adjustments to the list of goods covered by the temporary suspension.

On the advice of a number of Parliament's services, and in order to clarify the legal situation concerning the granting and revocation of delegated powers under a special legislative procedure' as in this case, the Chair requested Parliament's Legal Service for its opinion. This has now been received and it is now clear that the relevant provisions inserted into the text by Council require amending so as to ensure Parliament is informed of any changes Council makes to the Status of the delegated acts. This is the purpose of the amendments adopted by the committee.

PE443.135

The European Parliament has been consulted again on the proposal for a Council Regulation temporarily suspending autonomous Common Customs Tariff duties on imports of certain industrial products into the autonomous regions of Madeira and the Azores.

Compared to the initial proposal, this new text includes amendments stating that the Commission should be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 290 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) for the purpose of making necessary amendments and technical adaptations to the list of goods for which a suspension applies.

09109/2010

The European Parliament has been consulted again on the proposal for a Council Regulation temporarily suspending autonomous Common Customs Tariff duties on imports of certain industrial products into the autonomous regions of Madeira and the Azores.

Compared to the initial proposal, this new text includes amendments stating that the Commission should be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 290 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) for the purpose of making necessary amendments and technical adaptations to the list of goods for which a suspension applies.

09109/2010

SP(2010)795

Results of vote in Parliament

The European Parliament adopted by 628 votes to 17 with 15 abstentions, a legislative resolution amending, under the consultation procedure, the proposal for a Council regulation temporarily suspending autonomous Common Customs Tariff duties on imports of certain industrial products into the autonomous regions of Madeira and the Azores.

The main amendments are as follows:

· Parliament wants to suspend in full the Common Customs Tariff duties for certain goods for a period starting on 1 February 2010 and ending on 31 December 2019 (the Commission had proposed that this period began on 1 January 2010);

· Members amended the table in Annex II of the proposal (Raw material, parts and components used for agricultural purposes, industrial transformation or maintenance) concerning the applicable CN codes (Tariff and Statistical nomenclature).

T7-0002/2010

A7-0001/2010

A7-0001/2010

The Committee on Regional Development adopted the report drawn up by Danuta Maria HÜBNER (EPP, PL) amending, under the consultation procedure, the proposal for a Council regulation temporarily suspending autonomous Common Customs Tariff duties on imports of certain industrial products into the autonomous regions of Madeira and the Azores.

The committee proposes to suspend temporarily - from 1 February 2010 to 31 December 2019 - autonomous Common Customs Tariff duties applicable to certain imports of finished goods for agricultural, commercial or industrial use into the autonomous regions of Madeira and the Azores. The Commission proposes that these duties be suspended from 1 January 2010 to 31 December 2019.

Moreover, MEPs have made amendments to the table in Annex II (Raw materials, parts and components used for agricultural purposes, industrial transformation or maintenance) of the proposal concerning the applicable CN Codes (tariff and statistical nomenclature).

CES1933/2009

PE430.867

PE430.601

PURPOSE: to suspend temporarily autonomous Common Customs Tariff duties applicable to imports into the autonomous regions of Madeira and the Azores of finished goods for agricultural, commercial or industrial use from 1 January 2010 to 31 December 2019.

PROPOSED ACT: Council Regulation.

BACKGROUND: Madeira and Azores belong to the outer most regions of the Community for which special measures may be foreseen in accordance with Treaty establishing the European Community in order to overcome the economic disadvantages these areas suffer due to their geographical situation.

In August and December 2007 the regional authorities of Madeira and Azores requested with the support of the Portuguese Government an autonomous suspension of the common customs tariff duties for a number of products. They justified their requests that in view of the remoteness of those islands the economic operators suffer severe commercial disadvantages which have negative effects on demographic trends, employment and social and economic developments.

The local economies of Madeira and the Azores are to a large extent dependant on national and international tourism, a fairly volatile economic resource. It is determined by factors on which the local authorities and the Portuguese government have hardly any influence. As a result, the economic development of Madeira and the Azores is severely restrained. In these circumstances it is necessary to support those economic sectors which are less dependent on the tourist industries in order to compensate the fluctuations of the touristic sector and thus to stabilise local employment.

It is therefore appropriate to provide for new suspensions which are not restricted to industries located in free zones but can benefit to all types of economic operators located on the territory of those regions. The scope of commercial sectors benefitting from the suspensions should therefore cover the fishery, agricultural, industrial and service sectors.

In order to ensure economic effect of the suspensions laid down in this Regulation it is appropriate to extend the range of products to finished goods for industrial use, to raw and other materials and to parts and components used for agricultural purposes, industrial transformation, maintenance and other services.

IMPACT ASSESSMENT: an individual impact assessment of the measure as such is not possible given the fact that the suspension of duties is only one measure in a whole row measures enacted for the improvement of the social and economic situation on these islands. To this effect the Commission publishes frequently communications setting out the effects of these measures for the different outer most regions. The last communication was forwarded to the Council on 17.10.2008 ( COM(2008)0642 ).

CONTENT: in order to give a long term perspective to investors and enable economic operators to reach a level of industrial and commercial activities which stabilises the economic and social environment in the regions concerned, it is appropriate to suspend in full the Common Customs Tariff duties for certain goods for a period of 10 years starting on 1 January 2010.

The proposed suspension of the Common Customs Tariff duties allows the local economic operators in Madeira and Azores to import a certain number of raw materials, parts, components and finished products duty free. In order to avoid any misuse or change in traditional trade flows of these goods it is foreseen that goods benefitting from duty suspension are subject to end use controls.

Therefore, finished goods will have to be used by local companies on the islands for a period of at least two years before they could be sold freely to other companies located in the other part of the customs territory of the European Community.

Moreover, raw materials, parts and components will have to be used for agricultural purposes, and industrial transformation and maintenance in the autonomous regions in order to benefit from the duty suspension.

Where the Commission has reasons to believe that the suspensions laid down in this Regulation has led to a deflection of the trade for a specific product it may provisionally repeal the suspension by a Commission Regulation for a period not longer than 12 months. Import duties for products for which the suspension has been provisionally repealed shall be secured by a guarantee, and the release of the products concerned for free circulation in the autonomous regions of Madeira and the Azores shall be conditional upon the provision of such guarantee.

When the Council decides on a proposal from the Commission within the 12 months period that the suspension should definitively be repealed the amounts of duties secured by guarantees shall be definitively collected. If no definitive decision has been adopted within the 12 month period, the securities shall be released.

BUDGETARY IMPLICATIONS: the proposal has implications for the Community budget. The application of the suspension will lead to loss in revenue of Community's own resources. On the basis of the information provided by the regional authorities, the impact on the loss of revenue resulting from this Regulation may therefore be estimated at EUR 0.16 million (gross amount, expenses incurred in collection included) x 0.75 = EUR 0.12million/year for the period 01.01.2010 - 31.12.2019.

The loss of revenue in Traditional Own Resources shall be compensated by Member States contributions based on the GNI.

COM(2009)0370
EUR-Lex

PURPOSE: to suspend temporarily autonomous Common Customs Tariff duties applicable to imports into the autonomous regions of Madeira and the Azores of finished goods for agricultural, commercial or industrial use from 1 January 2010 to 31 December 2019.

PROPOSED ACT: Council Regulation.

BACKGROUND: Madeira and Azores belong to the outer most regions of the Community for which special measures may be foreseen in accordance with Treaty establishing the European Community in order to overcome the economic disadvantages these areas suffer due to their geographical situation.

In August and December 2007 the regional authorities of Madeira and Azores requested with the support of the Portuguese Government an autonomous suspension of the common customs tariff duties for a number of products. They justified their requests that in view of the remoteness of those islands the economic operators suffer severe commercial disadvantages which have negative effects on demographic trends, employment and social and economic developments.

The local economies of Madeira and the Azores are to a large extent dependant on national and international tourism, a fairly volatile economic resource. It is determined by factors on which the local authorities and the Portuguese government have hardly any influence. As a result, the economic development of Madeira and the Azores is severely restrained. In these circumstances it is necessary to support those economic sectors which are less dependent on the tourist industries in order to compensate the fluctuations of the touristic sector and thus to stabilise local employment.

It is therefore appropriate to provide for new suspensions which are not restricted to industries located in free zones but can benefit to all types of economic operators located on the territory of those regions. The scope of commercial sectors benefitting from the suspensions should therefore cover the fishery, agricultural, industrial and service sectors.

In order to ensure economic effect of the suspensions laid down in this Regulation it is appropriate to extend the range of products to finished goods for industrial use, to raw and other materials and to parts and components used for agricultural purposes, industrial transformation, maintenance and other services.

IMPACT ASSESSMENT: an individual impact assessment of the measure as such is not possible given the fact that the suspension of duties is only one measure in a whole row measures enacted for the improvement of the social and economic situation on these islands. To this effect the Commission publishes frequently communications setting out the effects of these measures for the different outer most regions. The last communication was forwarded to the Council on 17.10.2008 ( COM(2008)0642 ).

CONTENT: in order to give a long term perspective to investors and enable economic operators to reach a level of industrial and commercial activities which stabilises the economic and social environment in the regions concerned, it is appropriate to suspend in full the Common Customs Tariff duties for certain goods for a period of 10 years starting on 1 January 2010.

The proposed suspension of the Common Customs Tariff duties allows the local economic operators in Madeira and Azores to import a certain number of raw materials, parts, components and finished products duty free. In order to avoid any misuse or change in traditional trade flows of these goods it is foreseen that goods benefitting from duty suspension are subject to end use controls.

Therefore, finished goods will have to be used by local companies on the islands for a period of at least two years before they could be sold freely to other companies located in the other part of the customs territory of the European Community.

Moreover, raw materials, parts and components will have to be used for agricultural purposes, and industrial transformation and maintenance in the autonomous regions in order to benefit from the duty suspension.

Where the Commission has reasons to believe that the suspensions laid down in this Regulation has led to a deflection of the trade for a specific product it may provisionally repeal the suspension by a Commission Regulation for a period not longer than 12 months. Import duties for products for which the suspension has been provisionally repealed shall be secured by a guarantee, and the release of the products concerned for free circulation in the autonomous regions of Madeira and the Azores shall be conditional upon the provision of such guarantee.

When the Council decides on a proposal from the Commission within the 12 months period that the suspension should definitively be repealed the amounts of duties secured by guarantees shall be definitively collected. If no definitive decision has been adopted within the 12 month period, the securities shall be released.

BUDGETARY IMPLICATIONS: the proposal has implications for the Community budget. The application of the suspension will lead to loss in revenue of Community's own resources. On the basis of the information provided by the regional authorities, the impact on the loss of revenue resulting from this Regulation may therefore be estimated at EUR 0.16 million (gross amount, expenses incurred in collection included) x 0.75 = EUR 0.12million/year for the period 01.01.2010 - 31.12.2019.

The loss of revenue in Traditional Own Resources shall be compensated by Member States contributions based on the GNI.

COM(2009)0370
EUR-Lex