Evaluation study on the application of the provisions of the Council Directive 95/60/EC of 27 November 1995 on fiscal marking of gas oil and kerosene

Evaluation study on the application of the provisions of the Council Directive 95/60/EC of 27 November 1995 on fiscal marking of gas oil and kerosene

08/2016-08/2017

Purpose:

This study will contribute to the retrospective evaluation of the functioning of Directive 95/60/EC on fiscal marking of gas oil and kerosene. The analysis will cover the implementation, the application, and the effectiveness of the provisions of Directive 95/60/EC from the time it became applicable. In doing so, it will include a detailed quantitative and qualitative assessment of the actual problems with the application of the Directive, shortcomings and their broader consequences/impacts, as well as a brief identification of possible solutions in order to obtain technical and scientific support and provide the Commission with the considerations and inputs necessary to assess the impacts and any possible problems of the current arrangements.

The present study is to provide evidence whether the Directive has met the needs it was designed to address (such as providing the right legal framework for the application of the common fiscal marker, contributing to fighting fraud in rebated fuel, enforcing the obligation to apply a fiscal marker to gas oil and kerosene when they are taxed at a lower rate). The study will also demonstrate to what extent the Directive has actually achieved the expected effects, and how the potential differences in the interpretation of provisions of the Directive by the Member States affected economic operators and the efforts of Member States to fight fraud in rebated fuel. The individual impacts of the identified problems need to be assessed.

In its recommendations, the analysis will identify potential weaknesses and provide a first indication of solutions/options to address these weaknesses. Possible solutions must suggest improvements to the functioning of the Directive that will simplify its understanding and application for the stakeholders. For the identification of possible solutions for the longer term, the study will take as a guiding principle the general and also the specific policy objectives of the initiative, i.e. improving the functioning of the single market as a whole by simplifying and modernising the Directive 95/60/EC and contributing to the fight against fiscal fraud in rebated fuel. As a result, these improvements will provide substantial and tangible benefits to excise and customs administrations, as well as to economic operators.

Scope:

The study will assess the Directive according to the following evaluation criteria:

1.      Effectiveness: to what extent the objectives of the legislation have been met? Are direct results and broader impacts of the legislation in line with the objectives?;

2.      Efficiency: are the existing provisions of the legislation cost-effective? Is there a scope for simplification and administrative burden reduction?;

3.      Coherence: to what extent Directive 95/60/EC is coherent with ECJ jurisprudence and with other legislation (e.g. new CN codes)? Is the legal basis of the Directive 95/60/EC coherent with the Treaty?;

4.      Continuing relevance: to what extent does the scope of the legislation still matches the current needs of Member States and economic operators?;

5.      EU added value: what are the advantages/ benefits of acting at the EU level? Where can further EU action bring most benefits?

Moreover, the evaluation will be conducted in accordance with the requirement of the Commission's Better Regulation guidelines.

Sponsor:

Directorate General Taxation and Customs Union (DG TAXUD)

Consortium & project leader:

Economisti Associati srl

Project partners:

Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), EUROPE Ltd, wedoIT – solutions GmbH, ECOPA

Experts: Grzegorz Poniatowski