Council Decision (EU) 2019/425 of 12 March 2019 on the position to be taken on behalf of the European Union within the Joint Committee established by the Agreement between the European Union and the Kingdom of Norway on administrative cooperation, combating fraud and recovery of claims in the field of value added tax

The position to be taken on the Union's behalf in the first meeting of the Joint Committee established by the Agreement between the European Union and the Kingdom of Norway on administrative cooperation, combating fraud and recovery of claims in the field of value added tax shall be based on the draft decisions of the Joint Committee attached to this Decision.

This Decision shall enter into force on the date of its adoption.

The Rules of Procedure of the Joint Committee, as set out in the Annex to this Decision, are hereby adopted.

This Decision shall enter into force on the date of its adoption.

1 The Joint Committee shall be composed of representatives of the European Union and of the Kingdom of Norway (hereinafter referred to collectively as ‘the Parties’).

2 The European Union (‘the Union’) shall be represented by the European Commission. The Kingdom of Norway shall be represented by […].

3 The Joint Committee shall be chaired alternately by each of the Parties for two calendar years. The first period ends on 31 December of the year following the year of the entry into force of the Agreement. The first chair will be the Union.

1 Representatives of the Member States of the Union may participate as observers.

2 The Joint Committee may also admit other persons to its meetings as observers.

3 Observers may be permitted by the chair to take part in the discussions and provide expertise. However, they shall not have voting rights and shall not participate in the formulation of the decisions and recommendations of the Joint Committee.

4 Experts with special expertise may also be invited with regard to specific agenda items.

1 Meetings of the Joint Committee shall be convened by the chair at least once every two years. Either Party may request that a meeting be convened.

2 The date and place of each meeting shall be determined and agreed between the Parties.

3 Meetings may also be held by means of teleconferencing/videoconferencing.

4 The chair shall communicate the invitation to the other Party, the observers referred to in Article 2(2) and the experts referred to in Article 2(4) at least 15 working days before the meeting. The European Commission shall invite the representatives of the Member States of the Union referred to in Article 2(1).

5 The meetings shall not be public unless otherwise agreed. The Joint Committee's deliberations shall be confidential.

1 The chair shall draw up the provisional agenda for each meeting and submit it to the Parties no later than six months before the meeting. The final agenda shall be agreed between the Parties no later than 15 working days before the meeting and circulated by the chair.

2 Reference papers and supporting documentation shall be sent to the Parties no later than by the date on which the provisional agenda is sent.

3 For agenda items referring to decisions of the Joint Committee, the request for inclusion in the agenda and any related documents shall be sent to the Joint Committee at least seven months in advance of the meeting.

1 The chair shall carry out the secretarial tasks of the Joint Committee. All correspondence to the Joint Committee, including requests for items to be included or removed from the agendas, shall be addressed to the chair.

2 Notwithstanding paragraph 1 of this Article, the Commission shall act as secretary for the communication of statistical data provided under Articles 20 and 39 of the Agreement.

1 The chair shall draft the minutes of each meeting. The chair shall circulate the minutes without delay and no later than one month after the meeting. The minutes shall be subject to mutual agreement between the Parties.

2 The chair shall send the adopted minutes to the other Party.

1 Any decisions and recommendations of the Joint Committee shall be subject to prior discussion between the Parties.

2 Decisions and recommendations of the Joint Committee shall be adopted during its meetings by unanimity.

3 Decisions or recommendations may be adopted by written procedure provided that both Parties agree. Under the written procedure, the chair shall send draft decisions and recommendations to the Parties and shall lay down a time limit for them to express their position. If neither Party opposes a draft decision or recommendation before the expiry of that time limit, the adoption of that decision or recommendation shall be regarded as having been tacitly agreed to. The chair shall inform the Parties of the outcome of the written procedure without delay, and no later than 14 calendar days after the expiry of the time limit referred to in the second subparagraph.

Each Party, and when applicable each observer and expert, shall bear the expenses it incurs in taking part in the meetings of the Joint Committee.

Pursuant to Articles 21(1) and 40(1) of the Agreement, for the communication of information under Titles II and III of the Agreement, the competent authorities shall make use of the standard forms adopted for the implementation of Regulation (EU) No 904/2010 and Directive 2010/24/EU. The structure and layout of the standard forms may be adapted to any new requirements and capabilities of the communication and information exchange systems, provided that the data and information contained therein are not substantially altered.

All information communicated pursuant to Titles II and III of the Agreement shall be transmitted only by electronic means via the Common Communication Network / Common System Interface (CCN/CSI) network, unless this is impracticable for technical reasons.

1 In order to organise contacts between the central liaison offices and liaison departments referred to in point (b) of Article 4(2) and point (b) of Article 4(3) of the Agreement, the competent authorities shall make use of the rules adopted for the implementation of Directive 2010/24/EU.

2 The central liaison offices designated pursuant to Article 4(2) of the Agreement shall keep the list of liaison departments and competent officials designated pursuant to Article 4(3) and (4) up-to-date and make it available to the other central liaison offices via electronic means.

This Decision shall enter into force on the date of its adoption.

1 The service level agreements set out in Annexes I and II to this Decision shall be concluded between the European Commission, representing the European Union, and the Kingdom of Norway and shall be binding on the Parties to the Agreement from the day following their approval by the Joint Committee.

2 Either Party to the Agreement may request a revision of the service level agreements by sending a request to the chair of the Joint Committee. Until the Joint Committee decides on the proposed changes, the provisions of the last concluded version of the relevant service level agreement will remain in force.

This Decision shall enter into force on the date of its adoption.

The initial amount to be paid by the Kingdom of Norway for the establishment of virtual private network (VPN) access is 20000 EUR. The amount shall be paid within 60 days following adoption of this Decision.

The yearly financial contribution that the Kingdom of Norway shall pay to the general budget of the Union shall be 20000 EUR. The amount shall be paid each year by 1 September. The contribution shall cover expenditure related to the development, maintenance and upgrade of IT solutions (CCN/CSI, e-forms, etc.).

The contributions under Articles 1 and 2 shall be paid in euros into the euro-denominated bank account of the Commission indicated in the debit note.

This Decision shall enter into force on the date of its adoption.