(Special legislative procedure – Consultation)

The European Parliament,

–   having regard to the Commission proposal to the Council (COM(2009)0028),

–   having regard to Articles 93 and 94 of the EC Treaty, pursuant to which the Council consulted Parliament (C6-0061/2009),

–   having regard to the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council entitled "Consequences of the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon for ongoing international decision-making procedures (COM(2009)0665),

–   having regard to Articles 113 and 115 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU,

–   having regard to Rule 55 of its Rules of Procedure,

–   having regard to the report of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (A7-0002/2010),

1.  Approves the Commission proposal as amended;

2.  Calls on the Commission to alter its proposal accordingly, pursuant to Article 293(2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU;

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

4.  Asks the Council to consult Parliament again if it intends to amend the Commission proposal substantially;

5.  Instructs its President to forward its position to the Council, to the Commission and to the national parliaments.

Text proposed by the Commission   Amendment Amendment 1 Proposal for a directive Article 3 – paragraph 6 a (new) 6a.  Each Member State shall develop appropriate control systems for its central liaison office, or for the liaison offices that it has designated as liaison departments, in the interests of transparency and cost-efficiency, and shall draw up a publicly accessible report, in the context of an annual monitoring exercise, accordingly. Amendment 2 Proposal for a directive Article 4 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 1.  At the request of a central liaison office, a liaison office or a liaison department of a Member State (hereinafter "the applicant authority"), the central liaison office, a liaison office or a liaison department of the Member State to which the request is made (hereinafter "the requested authority") shall provide any information which might be relevant to the applicant authority in the recovery of its claims as referred to in Article 2. 1.  The central liaison offices shall exchange any information with the central liaison offices of the other Member States which might be relevant to the latter in the recovery of the claims as referred to in Article 2. Amendment 3 Proposal for a directive Article 5 The central liaison offices shall exchange information concerning refunds of taxes, other than value added tax, by the national tax authorities, if those refunds relate to persons established in another Member State and concern amounts exceeding EUR 10 000. The central liaison offices shall exchange information concerning refunds of taxes, other than value added tax, by the national tax authorities, if those refunds relate to persons established in another Member State. Amendment 4 Proposal for a directive Article 6 – paragraph 2 2.  By agreement between the applicant authority and the requested authority and in accordance with the arrangements laid down by the latter, officials authorised by the applicant authority may, with a view to receiving information referred to in Article 4(1), be present during administrative enquiries carried out in the territory of the requested Member State. 2.  By agreement between the applicant authority and the requested authority and in accordance with the arrangements laid down by the latter, officials authorised by the applicant authority may, with a view to receiving information referred to in this Directive, be present during administrative enquiries carried out in the territory of the requested Member State. Where officials of the applicant Member State are present during administrative enquiries pursuant to the first subparagraph, they may exercise the powers of inspection conferred on officials of the requested Member State, on condition that they exercise those powers in accordance with the laws, regulations or administrative provisions of the requested Member State. Where officials of the applicant authority are present during administrative enquiries pursuant to the first subparagraph, they may, where so agreed, exercise the powers of inspection conferred on officials of the requested authority, on condition that they exercise those powers in accordance with the laws, regulations or administrative provisions of the requested authority's Member State. Any refusal of the person under investigation to respect the inspection measures of the officials of the applicant Member State shall be treated by the requested Member State as a refusal committed against its own officials. Where an agreement has been concluded between the applicant authority and the requested authority concerning the inspection powers vested in officials by the requested authority, any refusal of the person under investigation to respect the inspection measures of the officials of the applicant authority shall be treated by the requested authority as a refusal committed against its own officials. Amendment 5 Proposal for a directive Article 8 – paragraph 1 – point b (b) by sending, by registered mail or electronically, a standard form to which the instrument or decision emanating from the applicant Member State is attached; for this standard form, the model set out in Annex I shall be used. (b) by sending, by registered mail or electronically, a standard form to which the instrument or decision emanating from the applicant Member State, or a certified copy thereof, is attached; for this standard form, the model set in the Annex I shall be used. Amendment 6 Proposal for a directive Article 12 – paragraph 3 3.  The entire amount of the claim that is recovered by the requested authority shall be remitted to the applicant Member State. 3.  The entire amount of the claim that is recovered by the requested authority shall be remitted to the applicant Member State within 14 days of receipt of the request. Amendment 7 Proposal for a directive Article 23 a (new) Article 23a Follow-up of activities carried out in accordance with this Directive The central liaison offices shall issue an annual report on cooperation activities carried out during the previous tax year in accordance with this Directive. That report shall detail at least the number of requests received and issued, the action taken, the reasons given where the request was refused, the time taken to deal with the request, the amount of the claim and the amounts actually recovered. The report shall be forwarded to the European Parliament and the Commission for their opinions. Amendment 8 Proposal for a directive Article 27 – paragraph 1 a (new) The Commission shall work towards good cooperation between the Member States and shall, on an ongoing basis, monitor any complaints of shortcomings in the exchange of information and assistance between the Member States with a view to recovery in accordance with this Directive. Amendment 9 Proposal for a directive Article 27 a (new) Article 27a Commission analysis The Commission shall conduct a comparative analysis on a wide range of tax recovery instruments provided for in Member States' tax codes, such as collection orders, recovery claims specified in the real estate property records, liens, enforcement procedure deadlines required by law and applied in practice with a view to facilitating the implementation of best practices for tax recovery in Member States.