16. 11. 91 Official Journal of the European Communities No L 316/1 (Acts whose publication is obligatory) COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) No 3330/91 ‘ ~ of 7 November 1991 on the statistics relating to the trading of goods between Member States THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, and in particular Article 100a thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission ('), In cooperation with the European Parliament (3, Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (%), Whereas abolishing physical barriers between Member States is necessary to complete the internal market; whereas a satisfactory level of information on the trading of goods between Member States should thus be ensured by means other than those involving checks, even indirect ones, at internal frontiers ; Whereas an analysis of the situation of the Community and the Member States after 1992 reveals that a number of specific requirements will persist as regards informa- tion on the trading of goods between Member States ; Whereas these requirements are not of a macro-economic nature, unlike those relating, for example, to national accounts or the balance of payments, and many of them cannot be met by means of highly aggregated data alone ; whereas matters such as trade policy, sectoral analyses, " competition rules, the management and guidance of agri- culture and fisheries, regional development, energy projections and the organization of transport must on the contrary be based on statistical documentation providing the most up-to-date, accurate and detailed view of the internal market ; Whereas it is precisely information on the trading of goods between Member States which will contribute to measuring the progress of the internal market, thereby speeding up its completion and consolidating it on a () OJ No C 254, 9. 10. 1990, p. 7 and O] No C 47, 23. 2. 1991, p. 10. (& OJ No C 324, 24. 12. 1990, p. 268 and O] No C 280, 28. 10. 1991. () OJ No C 332, 31. 12. 1990, p. 1. sound basis; whereas this kind of information could prove to be one of the means of assessing the develop- ment of economic and social cohesion ; Whereas until the end of 1992 statistics relating to the trading of goods between Member States will benefit from the formalities, documentation and controls which the customs authorities, for their own requirements or for those of other departments, prescribe for consignors and consignees of goods in circulation between Member States, but which will disappear through the elimination of physical frontiers and tax barriers ; Whereas it will consequently be necessary to collect directly from the consignors and consignees the data necessary to compile statistics relating to the trading of goods between Member States, using methods and techni- ques which will ensure that they are exhaustive, reliable and up to date, without giving rise for the parties concerned, in particular for small and medium-sized busi- nesses, to a burden out of proportion to the results which users of the said statistics can reasonably expect; 5 Whereas the relevant legislation must henceforth apply to all statistics relating to the trading of goods between Member States, including those statistics which are not to be harmonized or made compulsory by the Community before 1993 ; Whereas the statistics relating to the trading of goods between Member States are a function of the movements of goods involved ; whereas they may include data on transport, which can be collected simultaneously with the data specific to each of these categories of statistics, thus lightening the overall statistical burden ; Whereas private individuals will derive obvious advantages from the internal market; whereas it is necessary to ensure that these advantages are not diminished in their eyes by requirements for statistical information ; whereas the provision of such information would undoubtedly impose an obligation which private individuals would consider inconvenient at the very least and which would be impossible to check on without employing excessive measures ; Whereas it is therefore reasonable not to regard private individuals as responsible for providing such infor- mation, apart from suitable periodic surveys;