BETA


2020/0174(CNS) Dock dues in the French outermost regions: period of application

Progress: Procedure completed

RoleCommitteeRapporteurShadows
Lead REGI OMARJEE Younous (icon: GUE/NGL GUE/NGL) MEBAREK Nora (icon: S&D S&D), BIJOUX Stéphane (icon: Renew Renew), ROOSE Caroline (icon: Verts/ALE Verts/ALE)
Lead committee dossier:
Legal Basis:
TFEU 349-p1sub1-as1

Events

2020/12/01
   EP/CSL - Act adopted by Council after consultation of Parliament
2020/12/01
   Final act published in Official Journal
2020/10/06
   EP - Decision by Parliament
Details

The European Parliament adopted by 680 votes to 5, with 4 abstentions, (following a special legislative procedure - consultation), a legislative resolution on the proposal for a Council decision amending the period of application of Decision No 940/2014/EU concerning the dock dues in the French outermost region.

Parliament approved the Commission's proposal without amendment.

Dock dues are a tax which applies to imports, irrespective of their origin, and to sales in the French outermost regions. In view of the higher costs of production inherent in local production in those regions, Council Decision No 940/2014/EU provides for reduced rates of dock dues for certain locally produced goods in the outermost regions in order to offset the competitive disadvantage and maintain local production.

The French authorities intend to apply for a renewal of the dock dues exemption for the period 2021-2027, but this requires an impact assessment for each category of goods in each outermost region, to ensure that the goods in question qualify and that the internal market is not distorted. In view of the Coronavirus epidemic, which has hit certain outermost regions particularly hard, it has not been possible to carry out all these assessments.

The Commission therefore proposed that the current system, which expires on 31 December 2020, shall be extended by six months (from 31 December 2020 to 30 June 2021) in order to allow sufficient time to design a new system of tax exemptions for each region.

Once the relevant assessments have been carried out by the French authorities and reviewed by the Commission, the Commission shall submit a proposal for a new exemption system from dock dues for the period from 1 July 2021 to 31 December 2027, on which Parliament shall again be consulted.

Documents
2020/09/18
   EP - Committee report tabled for plenary, 1st reading/single reading
Documents
2020/09/18
   EP - Committee report tabled for plenary, 1st reading/single reading
Documents
2020/09/14
   EP - Committee referral announced in Parliament
2020/09/07
   EP - Vote in committee
2020/08/26
   EP - Committee draft report
Documents
2020/08/13
   EP - OMARJEE Younous (GUE/NGL) appointed as rapporteur in REGI
2020/08/11
   EC - Legislative proposal published
Details

PURPOSE: to extend by six months the arrangements concerning the dock dues in the French outermost regions.

PROPOSED ACT: Council Decision.

ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: the Council adopts the act after consulting the European Parliament but without being obliged to follow its opinion.

BACKGROUND: the dock dues tax is an indirect tax in force only in the French outermost regions of Martinique, Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Réunion and Mayotte. In principle, it applies in the same way to locally produced products and to imported products.

However, Council Decision No 940/2014/EU authorises France to apply, until 31 December 2020, exemptions or reductions to dock dues in respect of certain locally produced products. The difference between the taxation of locally produced products and that of other products may not exceed 10, 20 or 30 percentage points, depending on the product.

France is of the view that the competitive disadvantages suffered by the French outermost regions persist, and has submitted a request to the Commission for a system of differentiated taxation similar to the current system to be maintained beyond 1 January 2021, until 31 December 2027.

The crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has seriously delayed the work carried out by the French authorities to collect all the necessary information to examine the lists of products for which France wishes to apply differentiated taxation.

In order to allow for the completion of the work currently in progress and to give the Commission time to present a balanced proposal, respecting the various interests at stake, an additional six months is therefore necessary.

CONTENT: the Commission proposes to amend Council Decision 940/2014/EU to extend the current applicable regime from 31 December to 2020 to 30 June 2021 in order to allow for the completion of a comprehensive product-by-product analysis to be carried out of the request to authorise the application of differentiated taxation to offset the competitive disadvantages suffered by local production.

The proposed measure aims to promote and maintain certain local production which is particularly at risk and thus to promote employment in the French outermost regions. It shall help to mitigate the additional costs faced by companies in the outermost regions, which impede their full participation in the Single Market.

Documents

Votes

A9-0159/2020 - Younous Omarjee - Vote unique #

2020/10/05 Outcome: +: 680, -: 5, 0: 4
DE FR IT ES PL RO NL SE CZ HU BE EL PT AT BG DK IE LT HR FI SK LV SI EE CY MT LU
Total
90
78
75
57
51
30
29
21
21
21
20
21
20
19
17
14
13
11
12
14
14
8
8
7
6
6
6
icon: PPE PPE
186

Denmark PPE

For (1)

1

Latvia PPE

2

Estonia PPE

For (1)

1
2

Malta PPE

2

Luxembourg PPE

2
icon: S&D S&D
140

Greece S&D

2

Lithuania S&D

2

Latvia S&D

2

Slovenia S&D

2

Estonia S&D

2

Cyprus S&D

2

Luxembourg S&D

For (1)

1
icon: Renew Renew
97

Italy Renew

For (1)

1

Hungary Renew

2

Austria Renew

For (1)

1

Ireland Renew

2

Lithuania Renew

2

Croatia Renew

For (1)

1

Finland Renew

3

Slovakia Renew

2

Latvia Renew

For (1)

1

Slovenia Renew

2

Estonia Renew

3

Luxembourg Renew

2
icon: ID ID
74

Netherlands ID

Against (1)

1

Czechia ID

2
3

Denmark ID

For (1)

1

Finland ID

2

Estonia ID

For (1)

1
icon: Verts/ALE Verts/ALE
66

Spain Verts/ALE

3

Poland Verts/ALE

For (1)

1

Netherlands Verts/ALE

3

Sweden Verts/ALE

3

Czechia Verts/ALE

3

Belgium Verts/ALE

2

Portugal Verts/ALE

1

Austria Verts/ALE

3

Denmark Verts/ALE

2

Ireland Verts/ALE

2

Lithuania Verts/ALE

2

Finland Verts/ALE

3

Latvia Verts/ALE

1

Luxembourg Verts/ALE

For (1)

1
icon: ECR ECR
60

Germany ECR

For (1)

1

Greece ECR

1

Bulgaria ECR

2

Lithuania ECR

1

Croatia ECR

For (1)

1

Slovakia ECR

2

Latvia ECR

2
icon: GUE/NGL GUE/NGL
37

Netherlands GUE/NGL

For (1)

1

Sweden GUE/NGL

For (1)

1

Czechia GUE/NGL

1

Belgium GUE/NGL

For (1)

1

Portugal GUE/NGL

3

Denmark GUE/NGL

1

Finland GUE/NGL

For (1)

1

Cyprus GUE/NGL

2
icon: NI NI
29

Germany NI

2

Netherlands NI

1

Hungary NI

1

Croatia NI

Abstain (1)

2

Slovakia NI

2

History

(these mark the time of scraping, not the official date of the change)

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Responsible Committee
body
EP
committee_full
Regional Development
committee
REGI
associated
False
rapporteur
name: OMARJEE Younous date: 2020-08-13T00:00:00 group: The Left group in the European Parliament - GUE/NGL abbr: GUE/NGL
shadows
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type
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Regional Development
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REGI
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name: OMARJEE Younous date: 2020-08-13T00:00:00 group: Confederal Group of the European United Left - Nordic Green Left abbr: GUE/NGL
shadows
docs/0/docs/0/url
Old
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=COMPARL&mode=XML&language=EN&reference=PE655.930
New
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/REGI-PR-655930_EN.html
events/1/type
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Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
New
Vote in committee
events/2/type
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Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
New
Committee referral announced in Parliament
events/4/type
Old
Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
New
Decision by Parliament
committees/0
type
Responsible Committee
body
EP
committee_full
Regional Development
committee
REGI
associated
False
rapporteur
name: OMARJEE Younous date: 2020-08-13T00:00:00 group: Confederal Group of the European United Left - Nordic Green Left abbr: GUE/NGL
shadows
committees/0
type
Responsible Committee
body
EP
committee_full
Regional Development
committee
REGI
associated
False
rapporteur
name: OMARJEE Younous date: 2020-08-13T00:00:00 group: Confederal Group of the European United Left - Nordic Green Left abbr: GUE/NGL
shadows
events/5
date
2020-12-01T00:00:00
type
Act adopted by Council after consultation of Parliament
body
EP/CSL
events/6
date
2020-12-01T00:00:00
type
Final act published in Official Journal
docs
procedure/final
title
Decision 2020/1793
url
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/smartapi/cgi/sga_doc?smartapi!celexplus!prod!CELEXnumdoc&lg=EN&numdoc=32020D1793
procedure/stage_reached
Old
Awaiting final decision
New
Procedure completed
procedure/Modified legal basis
Rules of Procedure EP 159
procedure/Other legal basis
Rules of Procedure EP 159
docs/2
date
2020-10-06T00:00:00
docs
url: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-9-2020-0247_EN.html title: T9-0247/2020
type
Text adopted by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
body
EP
events/4/summary
  • The European Parliament adopted by 680 votes to 5, with 4 abstentions, (following a special legislative procedure - consultation), a legislative resolution on the proposal for a Council decision amending the period of application of Decision No 940/2014/EU concerning the dock dues in the French outermost region.
  • Parliament approved the Commission's proposal without amendment.
  • Dock dues are a tax which applies to imports, irrespective of their origin, and to sales in the French outermost regions. In view of the higher costs of production inherent in local production in those regions, Council Decision No 940/2014/EU provides for reduced rates of dock dues for certain locally produced goods in the outermost regions in order to offset the competitive disadvantage and maintain local production.
  • The French authorities intend to apply for a renewal of the dock dues exemption for the period 2021-2027, but this requires an impact assessment for each category of goods in each outermost region, to ensure that the goods in question qualify and that the internal market is not distorted. In view of the Coronavirus epidemic, which has hit certain outermost regions particularly hard, it has not been possible to carry out all these assessments.
  • The Commission therefore proposed that the current system, which expires on 31 December 2020, shall be extended by six months (from 31 December 2020 to 30 June 2021) in order to allow sufficient time to design a new system of tax exemptions for each region.
  • Once the relevant assessments have been carried out by the French authorities and reviewed by the Commission, the Commission shall submit a proposal for a new exemption system from dock dues for the period from 1 July 2021 to 31 December 2027, on which Parliament shall again be consulted.
docs/2
date
2020-10-06T00:00:00
docs
url: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-9-2020-0247_EN.html title: T9-0247/2020
type
Text adopted by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
body
EP
events/4
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2020-10-06T00:00:00
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Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
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EP
docs
url: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-9-2020-0247_EN.html title: T9-0247/2020
procedure/stage_reached
Old
Awaiting Parliament's vote
New
Awaiting final decision
forecasts
  • date: 2020-10-05T00:00:00 title: Vote in plenary scheduled
committees/0/shadows/0
name
MEBAREK Nora
group
Group of Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats
abbr
S&D
docs/1
date
2020-09-18T00:00:00
docs
url: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/A-9-2020-0159_EN.html title: A9-0159/2020
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2020-09-14T00:00:00
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body
EP
events/3
date
2020-09-18T00:00:00
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Committee report tabled for plenary, 1st reading/single reading
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EP
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url: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/A-9-2020-0159_EN.html title: A9-0159/2020
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date
2020-10-05T00:00:00
title
Vote in plenary scheduled
forecasts/0
date
2020-10-06T00:00:00
title
Indicative plenary sitting date, 1st reading/single reading
procedure/dossier_of_the_committee
  • REGI/9/03993
procedure/stage_reached
Old
Preparatory phase in Parliament
New
Awaiting Parliament's vote
docs/0
date
2020-08-11T00:00:00
docs
type
Legislative proposal
body
EC
events/0/summary
  • PURPOSE: to extend by six months the arrangements concerning the dock dues in the French outermost regions.
  • PROPOSED ACT: Council Decision.
  • ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: the Council adopts the act after consulting the European Parliament but without being obliged to follow its opinion.
  • BACKGROUND: the dock dues tax is an indirect tax in force only in the French outermost regions of Martinique, Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Réunion and Mayotte. In principle, it applies in the same way to locally produced products and to imported products.
  • However, Council Decision No 940/2014/EU authorises France to apply, until 31 December 2020, exemptions or reductions to dock dues in respect of certain locally produced products. The difference between the taxation of locally produced products and that of other products may not exceed 10, 20 or 30 percentage points, depending on the product.
  • France is of the view that the competitive disadvantages suffered by the French outermost regions persist, and has submitted a request to the Commission for a system of differentiated taxation similar to the current system to be maintained beyond 1 January 2021, until 31 December 2027.
  • The crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has seriously delayed the work carried out by the French authorities to collect all the necessary information to examine the lists of products for which France wishes to apply differentiated taxation.
  • In order to allow for the completion of the work currently in progress and to give the Commission time to present a balanced proposal, respecting the various interests at stake, an additional six months is therefore necessary.
  • CONTENT: the Commission proposes to amend Council Decision 940/2014/EU to extend the current applicable regime from 31 December to 2020 to 30 June 2021 in order to allow for the completion of a comprehensive product-by-product analysis to be carried out of the request to authorise the application of differentiated taxation to offset the competitive disadvantages suffered by local production.
  • The proposed measure aims to promote and maintain certain local production which is particularly at risk and thus to promote employment in the French outermost regions. It shall help to mitigate the additional costs faced by companies in the outermost regions, which impede their full participation in the Single Market.
events/1
date
2020-09-07T00:00:00
type
Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
body
EP
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Rules of Procedure EP 159
committees/0/shadows
  • name: ROOSE Caroline group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance abbr: Verts/ALE
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title
EUR-Lex
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2020-08-26T00:00:00
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