4.12.2004 Official Journal of the European Union L 359/1 | (Acts whose publication is obligatory) COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 2073/2004 of 16 November 2004 on administrative cooperation in the field of excise duties THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 93 thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament (%), Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee (2), Whereas: Fraud in the European Union has serious consequences for national budgets and may lead to distortions of competition in movements of excisable products. It therefore has an impact on the operation of the internal market. Close cooperation is required between the administrative authorities of each Member State responsible for imple- menting the measures adopted in this field in order to combat excise fraud. It is therefore essential to define the rules under which the administrative authorities of the Member States must afford each other mutual assistance and cooperate with the Commission to ensure that the rules relating to the movement of excisable products and the collection of excise duties are correctly applied. Mutual assistance and administrative cooperation in the field of excise duties are governed by Council Directive 77/799[EEC of 19 December 1977 concerning mutual (") Opinion delivered on 1 April 2004 (not yet published in the Official Journal). () O] C 112, 30.4.2004, p. 64. assistance by the competent authorities of the Member States in the field of direct taxation, certain excise duties and taxation of insurance premiums (3). Mutual assistance and administrative cooperation in the field of VAT are governed by Regulation (EC) No 1798/2003 (4. Although this legal instrument has proved to be effective, it will not be able to cope with new administrative coop- eration imperatives resulting from increasing economic integration within the internal market. Council Directive 92/12/EEC of 25 February 1992 on the general arrangements for products subject to excise duty and on the holding, movement and monitoring of such products (°) also introduced a number of information exchange instruments. Their procedures will have to be defined within a general legal framework for adminis- trative cooperation in the field of excise duties. There is also a need for clearer and more binding rules on cooperation between Member States as the rights and obligations of all the parties concerned are not suffi- ciently defined. There are not sufficient direct contacts between local or national anti-fraud agencies as standard practice is for information to be communicated between central liaison offices. This leads to inefficiencies, under-use of the administrative cooperation —arrangements and excessive delays in communication of information. Provision should therefore be made for more direct contacts between administrative  departments  to improve and speed up cooperation. There is, also, a need for closer cooperation as, with the exception of movement verification under Article 15b of Directive 92/12[EEC, there are few automatic or spon- taneous exchanges of information between Member States. The exchange of information between national authorities and between those authorities and the Commission should be more intensive and speedier if fraud is to be effectively combated. () O] L 336, 27.12.1977, p. 15. Directive last amended by Directive 2004/56/EC (O] L 127, 29.4.2004, p. 70). (% OJ L 264, 15.10.2003, p. 1. Regulation as amended by Regulation (EC) No 885/2004 (O] L 168, 1.5.2004, p. 1). () OJ L 76, 23.3.1992, p. 1. Directive last amended by Regulation (EC) No 807/2003 (O] L 122, 16.5.2003, p. 36).