Telematic networks for statistics relating to trading of goods between Member States
The European Commission has published an amended proposal for a Council Decision on inter-administration telematic networks for statistics relating to the trading of goods between Member States (EDICOM), part of the IDA (Interchange of Data between Administrations) programme. The amended proposal is intended to replace Council Decision 94/445/EC of 11 July 1994, which established the EDICOM programme initially. This Decision was annulled by the European Court of Justice, following an appeal by the European Parliament, on the grounds that the legal base used was inappropriate. The EDICOM programme will implement a set of measures to facilitate the conversion of regional, national and Community systems to interoperable systems at European level, for the collection of returns on the trading of goods from businesses between Member States, the validation and processing of such returns and the dissemination of the statistics derived from them. Interim reports on the programme's first two years of operation have shown its value, and show clearly that it should be continued. The Commission wishes the amended Decision to be adopted rapidly in order to ensure that there is as little interruption as possible in the programme and that the funds already invested are not wasted. The amended proposal will allow the continuation of the EDICOM programme on the same model as the 1994 Decision but using a different legal base.