REPORT on the recommendation for a Council Decision concerning the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the Convention of 26 July 1995, drawn up on the basis of Article K.3 of the Treaty on European Union, on the use of information technology for customs purposes

28.6.2007 - (COM(2007)0211 – C6‑0168/2007 – 2007/0079(CNS)) - *

Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs
Rapporteur: Jean-Marie Cavada
(Simplified procedure – Rule 43(1) of the Rules of Procedure)

DRAFT EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION

on the recommendation for a Council Decision concerning the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the Convention of 26 July 1995, drawn up on the basis of Article K.3 of the Treaty on European Union, on the use of information technology for customs purposes

(COM(2007)0211 – C6‑0168/2007 – 2007/0079(CNS))

(Consultation procedure)

The European Parliament,

–   having regard to the Commission recommendation (COM(2007)0211),

–   having regard to Article 3(4) of the Act of Accession of Bulgaria and Romania, pursuant to which the Council consulted Parliament (C6‑0168/2007),

–   having regard to Rules 51 and 43(1) of its Rules of Procedure,

–   having regard to the report of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (A6‑0265/2007),

1.  Approves the Commission recommendation;

2.  Calls on the Council to notify Parliament if it intends to depart from the text approved by Parliament;

3.  Asks the Council to consult Parliament again if it intends to amend the Commission recommendation substantially;

4.  Instructs its President to forward its position to the Council and Commission and to the Governments of Bulgaria and Romania.

EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

The Act of accession of Bulgaria and Romania[1] concluded in 2005 simplified accession by those countries to the conventions (and protocols) concluded by the Member States on the basis of Article 34 of the EU Treaty (former Article K.3 of that treaty) or Article 293 of the EC Treaty.

Annex I to the Act of Accession lists the seven relevant conventions and protocols in the justice and home affairs sphere, including: the Convention of 26 July 1995, drawn up on the basis of Article K.3 of the Treaty on European Union, on the use of information technology for customs purposes; the Protocol of 29 November 1996, drawn up on the basis of Article K.3 of the Treaty on European Union, on the interpretation, by way of preliminary rulings, by the Court of Justice of the European Communities of the Convention on the use of information technology for customs purposes; the Protocol of 12 March 1999, drawn up on the basis of Article K.3 of the Treaty on European Union, on the scope of the laundering of proceeds in the Convention on the use of information technology for customs purposes and the inclusion of the registration number of the means of transport in the Convention; and the Protocol of 8 May 2003, established in accordance with Article 34 of the Treaty on European Union, amending, as regards the creation of a customs files identification database, the Convention on the use of information technology for customs purposes.

Owing to the use of this simplified system, there is no longer any need to negotiate and conclude specific accession protocols. In order for the Convention of 26 July 1995 on the use of information technology for customs purposes and the protocols thereto to come into force in respect of Bulgaria and Romania, the Council simply needs to adopt, following consultation of Parliament[2], a decision determining the date on which the convention and the protocols thereto are to enter into force.

Your rapporteur therefore proposes that the Council decision be approved without amendment.

• [1]  OJ L 157, 21.6.2005, p. 203.
• [2]  In accordance with Article 3(3) and (4) of the Act of Accession of Bulgaria and Romania, OJ L 157, 21.6.2005, p. 203.

PROCEDURE

Title	Accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the Convention of 26 July 1995 on the use of information technology for customs purposes
References	COM(2007)0211 - C6-0168/2007 - 2007/0079(CNS)
Date of consulting Parliament	11.6.2007
Committee responsible        Date announced in plenary	LIBE 21.6.2007
Committee(s) asked for opinion(s)        Date announced in plenary	IMCO 21.6.2007
Not delivering opinions        Date of decision	IMCO 20.6.2007
Rapporteur(s)        Date appointed	Jean-Marie Cavada 11.6.2007
Simplified procedure - date of decision	11.6.2007
Date adopted	27.6.2007
Result of final vote	+: –: 0:	47 1 2
Members present for the final vote	Alexander Alvaro, Alfredo Antoniozzi, Kathalijne Maria Buitenweg, Giuseppe Castiglione, Giusto Catania, Carlos Coelho, Fausto Correia, Elly de Groen-Kouwenhoven, Esther De Lange, Panayiotis Demetriou, Bárbara Dührkop Dührkop, Kinga Gál, Patrick Gaubert, Roland Gewalt, Lilli Gruber, Adeline Hazan, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, Lívia Járóka, Ewa Klamt, Magda Kósáné Kovács, Wolfgang Kreissl-Dörfler, Barbara Kudrycka, Stavros Lambrinidis, Henrik Lax, Dan Mihalache, Viktória Mohácsi, Claude Moraes, Javier Moreno Sánchez, Athanasios Pafilis, Luciana Sbarbati, Inger Segelström, Károly Ferenc Szabó, Vladimir Andreev Urutchev, Ioannis Varvitsiotis, Manfred Weber, Tatjana Ždanoka
Substitute(s) present for the final vote	Adamos Adamou, Edit Bauer, Simon Busuttil, Gérard Deprez, Koenraad Dillen, Maria da Assunção Esteves, Anne Ferreira, Ignasi Guardans Cambó, Sylvia-Yvonne Kaufmann, Metin Kazak, Jörg Leichtfried, Marianne Mikko, Herbert Reul, Rainer Wieland