Komitologijos komitetai – Europos Sąjungos muitų politikos įgyvendinimo įrankiai

Darbe nagrinėjamas komitologijos sistemos veikimas, analizuojami komitologija reglamentuojantys teisės aktai, komitologijos sprendimu priėmimo mechanizmai. Komitologijos komitetai atribojami nuo kitų Europos Sąjungos komitetų ir išskiriami komitetai, įtakojantys Europos Sąjungos muitų politiką. Taip pat apžvelgiamas Lietuvos atstovavimas komitologijos komitetuose ir komitologijos komitetų veiklos ateities perspektyvos. Komitologijos sistema yra grindžiama Europos Bendrijos steigimo sutarties 202 straipsniu, kuris numato, kad Taryba, priimdama teisės aktus, suteikia Komisijai įgaliojimus įgyvendinti jos nustatytas taisykles, tačiau tokiems įgaliojimams vykdyti Taryba gali nustatyti tam tikrus reikalavimus. Minėti reikalavimai ir sudaro komitologijos teisinį pagrindą: šalys narės komitologijos komitetuose prižiūri, kaip Komisija įgyvendina Tarybos ir Parlamento nustatytas taisykles.

The operation of the system of comitology is researched in the Paper. Its legal basis and decision making procedure are analyzed, comitology committees are distinguished from the rest of the committees of the Union and stress is laid upon the the ones, having the major influence on the Union’s Customs Policy. Likewise, a review of Lithuanian representation in the comitology committees is delivered and the future perspectives of these committees are anticipated. Comitology system is based on Art. 202 of the EC Treaty, providing that the Council in the legislative process shall confer on the Commission, in the acts which the Council adopts, powers for the implementation of the rules which the Council lays down. These rules constitute the legal basis for comitology: through the comitology committees Member States are supervising the way Commission is implementing the rules laid down by the Council and the Parliament. The very first comitology committees were established in 1962. They operated in the field of agriculture and adopted decisions under the management procedure. In 1968 comitology committees, with the power to adopt decisions under regulation procedure were established in the areas of customs and (later) agriculture. It is noteworthy, that the year of 1968 was not an accidental one for establishment of comitology committees conferred with the power to make decisions under the regulation procedure in the field of customs. It was the year of 1968 that the Customs Union was created and the Common Customs Tariff was set. So far, it is considered as being one of the major developments in the history of the EC. Common Customs Policy, Common Customs Tariff and common measures, applied to the foreign trade policy, required exceptionally close co-operation between the Council, the Commission and the Member States. This was provided by the system of comitology. Considering the fact that customs union was and still remains essential for the free market as well as it constitutes the substantial element of the Union itself, the author has set the aim of assessing the influence of the comitology committees upon the Customs Policy of the Union. The operation of comitology system since its origination in 1962 (the establishment of the management committees) up to the present is scrutinized in the Paper. The legal basis for comitology, as well as its decision making procedures are analyzed, comitology committees are distinguished from the other committees of the Union. In the Paper the author focuses on the committees, having the major influence on the Customs Policy of the Union, with the main focus laid on the Customs Code Committee. Representation of the Republic of Lithuania in the comitology committees and its legal basis are overviewed, recommendations delivered. In the final part of the Paper one finds a short survey of the modifications, introduced by the New Community Code and the Constitution for Europe.