Key Benefits:
Original text
(State 1 Er October 2015)
The Swiss Confederation,
On one hand,
The European Community,
The Kingdom of Belgium,
The Czech Republic,
The Kingdom of Denmark,
The Federal Republic of Germany,
The Republic of Estonia,
Hellenic Republic,
The Kingdom of Spain,
The French Republic,
Ireland,
The Italian Republic,
The Republic of Cyprus,
The Republic of Latvia,
The Republic of Lithuania,
The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg,
The Republic of Hungary
The Republic of Malta,
The Kingdom of the Netherlands,
The Republic of Austria
The Republic of Poland
The Portuguese Republic,
The Republic of Slovenia,
The Slovak Republic,
The Republic of Finland,
The Kingdom of Sweden,
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
On the other hand,
Hereinafter referred to as Contracting Parties,
Having regard to the close relations between the European Community and its Member States, of the one part, and the Swiss Confederation, of the other part,
Wishing to fight effectively against fraud and any other illegal activity affecting the financial interests of the Contracting Parties,
Taking into account the need to strengthen administrative assistance in these areas,
Convinced that mutual legal assistance, including searches and seizures, must be granted, including in all cases of smuggling and evasion with regard to indirect taxation, in particular value added tax, customs duties and Excise duties,
Recognizing the importance of the fight against money laundering,
Agreed to conclude the following agreement:
The purpose of this Agreement is to extend administrative assistance and mutual legal assistance in criminal matters between the European Community and its Member States, of the one part, and the Swiss Confederation, of the other part, with a view to combating activities Illegal under s. 2.
1. This Agreement shall apply in the following areas:
2. Cooperation within the meaning of Titles II (Administrative Assistance) and III (mutual legal assistance) may not be refused on the sole ground that the application relates to an offence which the requested Contracting Party qualifies as a tax offence or Legislation of the requested Contracting Party does not have the same type of levies or expenditure or does not contain the same type of regulation or legal qualification of the facts as the legislation of the requesting Contracting Party.
3. The laundering of the proceeds of the activities covered by this Agreement shall be included in the scope provided that the activities which constitute the prior fact are punishable under the law of the two Contracting Parties of a sentence Deprivation of liberty or a security measure restricting the freedom of up to six months.
4. Direct taxes are excluded from the scope of this Agreement.
The authority of the requested Contracting Party may refuse a request for cooperation where the alleged amount of duties that are too low or evaded represents a value not exceeding EUR 25 000 or the presumed value of the goods exported Or imported without authorization is a value that does not exceed EUR 100 000 unless the case, because of its circumstances or the person of the suspect, is regarded as very serious by the requesting Contracting Party.
(2) The authority of the requested Contracting Party shall without delay inform the authority of the requesting Contracting Party of the grounds for the refusal of the request for cooperation.
Cooperation may be refused if the requested Contracting Party considers that the execution of the application is liable to prejudice the sovereignty, security, public order or other essential interests of the Contracting Party Required.
(1) The information and evidence disclosed or obtained under this Agreement, in any form, shall be covered by the official secret and shall enjoy the protection afforded to similar information by national law The Contracting Party which has received them and the corresponding provisions applicable to the Community institutions.
Such information and evidence shall not, in particular, be disclosed to persons other than those who, within the Community institutions, Member States or the Swiss Confederation, are, by their functions, called upon to Know or be used by them for purposes other than those falling within the scope of this Agreement.
2. The information and evidence obtained by the requesting Contracting Party pursuant to this Agreement may be transmitted to any Contracting Party if that Contracting Party conducts an investigation for which cooperation is not Would not be excluded or if there were concrete indications that this Contracting Party could usefully conduct such an inquiry. Such communication shall not take place for purposes other than those provided for in this Agreement.
(3) The transmission of information and evidence obtained under this Agreement to another Contracting Party or to more than one Contracting Party may not be the subject of an appeal in the originally requested Contracting Party.
4. Any Contracting Party that is the beneficiary of the communication of information or evidence in conformity with s. 2 respects the limitations on the use of those opposite by the Contracting Party required by the requesting Contracting Party of the first transmission.
5. The transmission of information and evidence obtained pursuant to this Agreement by a Contracting Party to a third State shall be subject to the authorization of the Contracting Party which is the source of such information and Evidence.
The requesting Contracting Party may request the requested Contracting Party to ensure that the request and its contents remain confidential, except to the extent that it is not compatible with the execution of the request. If the requested Contracting Party cannot comply with the requirements of confidentiality, it shall, in advance, inform the authority of the requesting Contracting Party.
This Title shall not affect the provisions applicable to mutual legal assistance in criminal matters, nor the more extensive obligations in the field of administrative assistance or the more advantageous provisions of bilateral arrangements or Multilateral cooperation between the contracting parties, in particular the Additional Protocol on mutual administrative assistance in customs matters of 9 June 1997 1 .
1 RS 0.632.401.02
1. The Contracting Parties shall assist each other in combating the illegal activities covered by this Agreement, in particular by preventing and detecting operations and other acts and omissions contrary to the relevant legislation, And conducting investigations into them.
2. The assistance established in this Title shall apply to any competent administrative authority of the Contracting Parties acting in the exercise of administrative investigative powers or criminal prosecution powers, including when These authorities exercise powers at the request of the judicial authorities.
If a criminal investigation is carried out by a judicial authority or under its direction, that authority determines whether the requests for mutual assistance or cooperation are made on the basis of the provisions applicable to mutual assistance Judicial in criminal matters or on the basis of this Title.
The authorities of the Contracting Parties shall apply the provisions of this Title in the framework of the powers conferred on them on the basis of their domestic law. Nothing in this Title shall be construed as altering the competences recognised in accordance with their internal provisions to the authorities of the Contracting Parties within the meaning of this Title.
They shall proceed as if they acted for their own account or at the request of another authority of the same Contracting Party. To this end, they shall use all the legal powers available to them under their domestic law in order to comply with the request.
(2) Applications to non-competent authorities shall be transmitted without delay by the competent authorities to the competent authority.
The authority of the requested Contracting Party may refuse a request for cooperation where it is obvious that:
1. Each Contracting Party shall designate the central service or services competent to deal with requests for administrative assistance within the meaning of this Title.
These services shall make use of any administrative authority competent to carry out the assistance requested.
2. Central services communicate directly with each other.
3. The activity of central services shall not exclude, in particular in cases of emergency, direct cooperation between the other authorities of the Contracting Parties competent in the fields of application of this Agreement. Central services shall be informed of any action involving such direct cooperation.
4. The Contracting Parties shall communicate, in the notification provided for in Art. 44, para. 2, which authorities are considered central services for the purposes of this section.
(1) At the request of the authority of the requesting Contracting Party, the authority of the requested Contracting Party shall, within the limits of the scope of this Agreement, communicate to the Contracting Party all the information at its disposal or at the disposal Other authorities of the same Contracting Party so as to enable it to prevent, search and control the illegal activities covered by it or necessary for the recovery of a debt. The authority of the requested Contracting Party shall carry out any administrative research necessary to obtain such information.
2. Information shall be attached to the reports and other documents, or certified copies or extracts of such reports and documents, on which the information disclosed, including the authorities of the Party, is to be relied upon. Contracting Parties have or have been developed or obtained to respond to the Request for Information.
3. By agreement between the authority of the requesting Contracting Party and the authority of the requested Contracting Party, and in accordance with the detailed instructions of that Contracting Party, officers entitled to that effect by the authority of the Contracting Party In the offices of the authorities of the requested Contracting Party may have access to documents and information within the meaning of s. 1 in the possession of the authorities of that Contracting Party which refer to specific illegal activities falling within the scope of this Agreement. These agents are authorized to make copies of the said documentation.
At the request of the authority of the requesting Contracting Party, the authority of the requested Contracting Party shall, as far as possible, exercise supervision in respect of trade in goods in breach of the regulations referred to in Art. 2. Such surveillance may relate to persons suspected of having participated in or participating in the commission of such illegal activities or to carry out preparatory acts with a view to committing them, as well as on the premises, the Means of transport and the goods in connection with those activities.
(1) At the request of the authority of the requesting Contracting Party, the authority of the requested Contracting Party shall notify the addressee or notify the addressee, in accordance with the internal provisions of the requested Contracting Party, of all instruments or Decisions by the competent authorities of the requesting Contracting Party falling within the scope of this Agreement.
(2) Requests for notification, which shall indicate the subject matter of the act or decision to be notified, shall be accompanied by a translation into an official language of the requested Contracting Party or in a language acceptable to that party Contracting Party.
3. Contracting Parties may send notices and requests for information and documents directly by post to the operators concerned by the third and fourth indent of Art. 2, para. 1, let. (a) resident in the territory of the other Contracting Party.
Such persons may act on such communications and provide relevant documents and information in the form provided for in the rules and by the arrangements under which the funds were granted.
1. At the request of the requesting Contracting Party, the requested Contracting Party shall conduct or cause to be carried out the relevant investigations concerning operations or conduct which constitute or which constitute illegal activities covered by this Agreement. On the basis of the authority of the requesting Contracting Party, the suspicion that such illegal activities have been committed is suspected.
(2) The requested Contracting Party shall make use of any means of inquiry available in its legal order under the conditions under which it may resort to such means if it acted on its own behalf or at the request of another Internal authority, including by the intervention or with the authorization if necessary by the judicial authorities.
This provision is without prejudice to the duty of cooperation of economic operators under Art. 17.
The authority of the requested Contracting Party shall communicate the results of such investigations to the authority of the requesting Contracting Party. Art. 12, para. 2, applies Mut A Sinti .
(3) The authority of the requested Contracting Party shall extend assistance to all circumstances, objects and persons having an apparent connection with the subject-matter of the request for assistance, without the need for a divisional application. In case of doubt, the authority of the requested Contracting Party shall first contact the authority of the requesting Contracting Party.
1. By agreement between the authority of the requesting Contracting Party and the authority of the requested Contracting Party, agents designated by the authority of the requesting Contracting Party may be present in the investigations referred to in the Article Previous. This presence is not subject to the consent of the person or economic operator to whom the investigation takes place.
2. Officers of the authority of the Contracting Party required shall at all times ensure the conduct of investigations. The agents of the authority of the applicant Contracting Party may, on their own initiative, exercise the powers granted to the agents of the authority of the requested Contracting Party.
On the other hand, they have access to the same premises and to the same documents as the agents of the authority of the Contracting Party required, through their intermediary and solely for the purposes of the ongoing investigation.
3. The authorisation may be subject to conditions.
4. Information brought to the knowledge of the authority of the requesting Contracting Party shall not be used as evidence before the transmission of the documents relating to the execution has been authorised.
Economic operators are required to cooperate in the execution of the request for administrative assistance, by giving access to their premises, to their means of transport and to their documentation and by providing all relevant information.
1. Requests for assistance shall be made in writing. They are accompanied by the necessary documents to respond to them.
In case of emergency, oral applications are accepted, but must be confirmed in writing as soon as possible.
2. Applications are accompanied by the following information:
(3) Applications shall be in an official language of the Contracting Party required or in a language acceptable to that Contracting Party.
4. Incorrect or incomplete applications may be corrected or completed. The measures required to qualify for the application are being implemented in the interim.
1. The information collected shall be used only for the purposes covered by this Agreement. Where a Contracting Party requests the use of such information for other purposes, it shall request the prior written consent of the authority which provided it. This use is then subject to the restrictions imposed by that authority.
2. Le par. 1 does not preclude the use of information in the course of judicial or administrative proceedings initiated for non-compliance with the legislation referred to in the request for administrative assistance if the same means of assistance are available For these actions. The competent authority of the Contracting Party providing such information shall be notified without delay of such use.
3. Contracting Parties may report, as evidence, in their minutes, reports and testimony, as well as in court proceedings and prosecutions, information collected and documents consulted In accordance with the provisions of this Agreement.
The forms of cooperation established in the preceding chapter may take place without the prior request of another Contracting Party.
2. The authority of the Contracting Party which transmits the information may, in accordance with domestic law, attach conditions to the use of such information by the authority of the receiving Contracting Party.
3. All the authorities of the Contracting Parties are bound by these conditions.
1. During the import, export and transit of goods, where the volume of transactions and the resulting risks from the point of view of the taxes and subsidies involved are likely to result in significant losses to the budget of the Contracting Parties may agree to conduct joint cross-border operations with a view to the prevention and prosecution of illegal activities falling within the scope of this Agreement.
2. Coordination and planning of cross-border operations shall be within the competence of the central service or an Office designated by it.
The authorities of several Contracting Parties may, by mutual agreement, establish a joint task force of special investigation established in a Contracting Party.
2. The investigation team conducts difficult investigations involving the mobilisation of important resources and coordinates joint actions.
Participation in such a team shall not confer on the representatives of the authorities of the Contracting Parties which compose it the power to intervene in the territory of the Contracting Party where the investigations are carried out.
1. The competent authorities of the Contracting Parties may agree to the secondment, for a fixed or indeterminate period, of liaison officers of a Contracting Party to the competent services of another Contracting Party with a view to To provide mutual support in the implementation of administrative assistance.
2. Liaison officers have a mission of advice and assistance. They do not have autonomous powers of intervention in the territory of the host contracting party. They may, with the agreement or at the request of the competent authorities of the Contracting Parties:
3. The competent authorities of the contracting parties shall settle the details by mutual agreement.
4. Liaison officers may represent the interests of one or more Contracting Parties.
At the request of the requesting Contracting Party, the required Contracting Party shall recover the claims falling within the scope of this Agreement as if it were its own claims.
(2) An application for the recovery of a debt shall be accompanied by an official copy or a certified copy of the title which permits the execution thereof, issued by the requesting Contracting Party and, if applicable, the original or a copy thereof Certified in accordance with other documents required for recovery.
The required Contracting Party shall take the provisional measures to ensure the recovery of a debt.
4. The authority of the requested Contracting Party shall transfer to the authority of the requesting Contracting Party the amount of the debt which it has recovered. In agreement with the requesting Contracting Party, it may deduct the percentage corresponding to the administrative costs incurred by it.
5. Notwithstanding the first paragraph, claims to be recovered do not necessarily enjoy the privileges of similar claims arising in the requested Contracting Party.
1. The provisions of this Title are intended to complement the European Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters of 20 April 1959 1 , as well as the Convention on Laundering, Search, Seizure and Confiscation of the Proceeds from Crime of 8 November 1990 2 And should facilitate their application between the contracting parties.
2. The more favourable provisions arising from bilateral or multilateral agreements between the contracting parties are not affected.
Mutual legal assistance is also granted:
Assistance shall also be granted for the purposes of investigations and procedures for the seizure and confiscation of the instruments and proceeds of such offences.
(1) Applications made under this Title shall be submitted by the authority of the requesting Contracting Party either through a competent central authority of the requested Contracting Party, or directly to the authority of the Party Contracting Party competent to execute the request of the requesting Contracting Party. The authority of the requesting Contracting Party and, where applicable, the authority of the requested Contracting Party, shall send a copy of the application to their respective central authority for information.
(2) Any document relating to the application or its execution may be transmitted by the same means. It shall be sent, at least in a copy, directly to the authority of the requesting Contracting Party.
(3) If the authority of the Contracting Party receiving the request is not competent to grant mutual assistance, it shall forward it without delay to the competent authority.
4. Defective or incomplete applications shall be accepted in so far as they contain the essential elements for being satisfied, without prejudice to their subsequent regularisation by the authority of the requesting Contracting Party. The authority of the requested Contracting Party shall notify such defects of the authority of the requesting Contracting Party and shall grant it a time limit for regularization.
The authority of the requested Contracting Party shall, without delay, transmit to the authority of the requesting Contracting Party any other indication which may permit the requesting party to complete its application or to extend it to other measures.
5. The Contracting Parties shall communicate, in the notification provided for in Art. 44, para. 2. The competent central authority or authorities for the purposes of this Article.
1. As a general rule, Contracting Parties send pleadings directly by post to persons in the territory of the other Contracting Party, in the proceedings for the illegal activities referred to in the present Agreement.
(2) If the authority of the Contracting Party which is at the origin of the documents knows, or has reason to consider, that the recipient knows only another language, the documents, or at least the most important passages thereof, shall be Accompanied by a translation into that other language.
The authority of the sending contracting party shall inform the addressee that no measure of constraint or sanction can be executed directly by the addressee in the territory of the other Contracting Party.
4. All the pleadings shall be accompanied by a note stating that the addressee may obtain from the authority identified in the note of the information on his rights and obligations concerning the part.
1. Within the limits of its internal law and its respective powers and at the request of the requesting party's authority, the competent authority of the requested Contracting Party shall order the provisional measures necessary for the To maintain an existing situation, to protect legal interests threatened or to preserve evidence, if the request for assistance does not appear to be manifestly inadmissible.
2. Preventative freezing and seizure shall be ordered in relation to the instruments and proceeds of the offences for which mutual assistance is sought. If the proceeds of an offence no longer exist, in whole or in part, the same measures are ordered in relation to goods in the territory of the Contracting Party that are required and which correspond to the value of the product in question.
The requested Contracting Party shall, at the request of the requesting Contracting Party, authorize representatives of the applicant's authorities to assist in the execution of the request for mutual legal assistance. This presence is not subject to the consent of the person concerned by the measure.
The authorisation may be subject to conditions.
2. The persons present have access to the same premises and to the same documents as the representatives of the authority of the Contracting Party required, through their intermediary and for the sole purpose of the execution of the request for mutual legal assistance. In particular, they may be allowed to ask or propose questions and suggest acts of instruction.
3. That presence may not result in the disclosure of facts to persons other than those authorized under the preceding paragraphs in breach of the legal or human rights of the person concerned. Information brought to the knowledge of the authority of the requesting Contracting Party shall not be used as a means of proof before the decision on the transmission of the documents relating to enforcement has acquired force Judged.
The Contracting Parties shall not suborder the admissibility of letters rogatory for the purpose of search and seizure under conditions other than the following:
(2) Letters rogatory for the purpose of search and seizure for money laundering offences falling within the scope of this Agreement shall also be admissible provided that the activities which constitute the prior fact are Under the law of the two Contracting Parties to a custodial sentence or a security measure restricting the freedom of up to six months.
1. If the conditions of s. 31 are fulfilled, the requested Contracting Party shall execute requests for assistance in obtaining and transmitting banking and financial information, including:
2. To the extent permitted under its right of criminal procedure for similar internal cases, the requested Contracting Party may order the supervision for a specified period of the banking operations undertaken, at To or through bank accounts or by specified persons, and the communication of the results to the requesting Contracting Party. The decision on the monitoring of transactions and the communication of results shall be taken in each individual case by the competent authorities of the requested Contracting Party and shall be in accordance with the national law of that Contracting Party. Contracting Party. The practical arrangements for monitoring shall be the subject of an agreement between the competent authorities of the requesting and requested Contracting Parties.
3. Each Contracting Party shall take the necessary measures to ensure that the financial institutions do not disclose to the customer concerned or to other third parties that measures are carried out at the request of the requesting Contracting Party or An investigation is in progress, for a limited period of time to what is necessary to avoid compromising the outcome.
4. The authority of the Contracting Party from which the application originates:
5. A Contracting Party shall not invoke bank secrecy as grounds for rejecting any cooperation in respect of a request for assistance from another Contracting Party.
The competent authority of the requested Contracting Party undertakes that, at the request of the authority of the applicant Contracting Party, controlled deliveries may be authorised on its territory in the course of criminal investigations Concerning offences liable to give rise to extradition.
2. The decision to use controlled deliveries shall be taken in each case by the competent authorities of the requested Contracting Party, in accordance with its national law.
The controlled deliveries shall take place in accordance with the procedures laid down in the law of the requested Contracting Party. The power to act, the direction and control of the operation belong to the competent authorities of the latter.
(1) At the request of the requesting Contracting Party, the objects, documents, funds or other values that have been seized as a precautionary measure may be surrendered for the purpose of confiscation or restitution to the person entitled to it.
2. The required Contracting Party may not refuse the remission of the fact that the funds correspond to a debt of a fiscal or customs nature.
3. The rights granted by a third party in good faith to these objects remain reserved.
1. The authority of the requested Contracting Party shall execute the request for mutual legal assistance as soon as possible, taking into account the best of the procedural or other deadlines indicated by the authority of the requesting Contracting Party. This explains the reasons for these deadlines.
(2) Where the application cannot be executed, or cannot be carried out entirely, in accordance with the requirements of the authority of the requesting Contracting Party, the authority of the requested Contracting Party shall without delay inform the authority of the Contracting Party and indicates the conditions under which the application could be executed. The two authorities may subsequently agree on the continuation of the request, if necessary by making it conditional upon compliance with those conditions.
If it is foreseeable that the time limit fixed by the authority of the requesting Contracting Party to execute the application may not be complied with and the reasons set out in s. 1, second sentence, clearly shows that any delay will significantly impede the procedure carried out by that authority, the authority of the requested Contracting Party shall indicate, without delay, the estimated time necessary for the execution of the application. The authority of the requesting Contracting Party shall, without delay, indicate whether the application is nevertheless maintained. The two authorities can then agree on the continuation of the application.
The information and evidence provided under the mutual assistance procedure may be used, in addition to the procedure for which mutual assistance has been provided:
1. Within the limits of their internal law and competence, the judicial authorities of a Contracting Party may spontaneously transmit information and evidence to a judicial authority of another Contracting Party Where they consider that they may be useful to the authority of the receiving Contracting Party in initiating or carrying out investigations or proceedings, or that such information and evidence may lead to that authority, Apply for mutual legal assistance.
(2) The authority of the Contracting Party which transmits the information and means of evidence may, in accordance with its domestic law, attach conditions to the use of such information and evidence by the authority of the Contracting Party Recipient.
3. All the authorities of the Contracting Parties are bound by these conditions.
The request for mutual assistance shall not prejudice the rights which may arise as a result of the applicant contracting party's quality as a civil party in internal criminal judicial proceedings initiated before the authorities of the Contracting Party Required.
1. A Joint Committee shall be established, composed of representatives of the Contracting Parties, which shall be responsible for the proper application of this Agreement. To this end, it makes recommendations and makes decisions in the cases provided for in the agreement. It shall act by mutual agreement.
The Joint Committee shall establish its rules of procedure, which shall contain, among other provisions, the arrangements for the convening of meetings, the appointment of its President and the definition of the term of office allocated to the latter.
The Joint Committee shall meet as required and at least once a year. Each Contracting Party may request the convening of a meeting.
The Joint Committee may decide to set up any working group or experts to assist it in the performance of its tasks.
(1) Each Contracting Party may submit to the Joint Committee a dispute relating to the interpretation or application of this Agreement, inter alia, where it considers that another Contracting Party does not follow up the Requests for cooperation addressed to him.
2. The Joint Committee shall endeavour to resolve the dispute as soon as possible. All relevant information to allow for a thorough review of the situation with a view to finding an acceptable solution is provided to the Joint Committee. To this end, the Joint Committee shall examine all possibilities for maintaining the proper functioning of this Agreement.
The authority of the requested Contracting Party may refuse a request for cooperation where the requesting Contracting Party does not respond repeatedly to a request for cooperation in similar cases.
2. Before refusing a request for cooperation on the basis of reciprocity, the Joint Committee shall be informed in order to give it an opportunity to take a decision on the matter.
If a Contracting Party wishes to revise this Agreement, it shall submit a proposal to that effect to the Joint Committee, which shall make recommendations, in particular with a view to initiating negotiations.
This Agreement shall apply to the territory of the Swiss Confederation, on the one hand, and to the territories where the Treaty establishing the European Community is applicable under the conditions laid down by the latter, on the other.
1. This Agreement is concluded for an indefinite period.
2. It shall be ratified or approved by the Contracting Parties in accordance with their own procedures. It shall enter into force on the first day of the second month following the last notification of the instruments of ratification or approval.
Until the entry into force of this Agreement, each Contracting Party may, where it makes the notification referred to in par. 2 or at any later time, declare that the latter is applicable, as far as it is concerned, in its relations with any other Contracting Party having made the same declaration. Such declarations shall take effect ninety days after the date of receipt of the notification.
The European Community or the Swiss Confederation may denounce this Agreement by notifying the other Contracting Party of its decision. Denunciation shall take effect six months after the date of receipt of the notification of termination.
The provisions of this Agreement shall apply to applications concerning illegal activities committed at least six months after the date of signature.
(1) Any State which becomes a Member State of the European Union may, subject to written notification to the Contracting Parties, become a Contracting Party to this Agreement.
2. The text of the agreement in the language of the acceding Member State, drawn up by the Council of the European Union, will be authenticated on the basis of an exchange of letters between the European Community and the Swiss Confederation. It will be valid as an authentic text within the meaning of s. 48.
This Agreement shall enter into force in respect of any new Member State of the European Union which shall accede to it ninety days after the receipt of the notification of its instrument of accession, or on the date of entry into force of the Agreement if It has not yet entered into force on the expiry of the said period of ninety days.
4. Where this Agreement has not yet entered into force upon notification of their instrument of accession, Art. 44, para. 3, applies to the new acceding Member States.
This Agreement shall be drawn up in duplicate in the English, Danish, Danish, Spanish, Estonian, Finnish, French, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Dutch, Polish, Portuguese, Slovak, Slovenian and Swedish languages. And Czech, each of these texts being equally authentic.
2. The Maltese version of this Agreement shall be authenticated by the Contracting Parties on the basis of an exchange of letters. It shall also be authentic, on the same basis as the languages referred to in subs. 1.
In witness whereof, The undersigned plenipotentiaries have signed at the bottom of this Agreement.
Done at Luxembourg, 26 October 2004.
(Suivent signatures)
The Plenipotentiaries of the Swiss Confederation,
On one hand,
And
The Kingdom of Belgium,
From the Czech Republic,
The Kingdom of Denmark,
The Federal Republic of Germany,
The Republic of Estonia,
The Hellenic Republic,
The Kingdom of Spain,
The French Republic,
Ireland,
The Italian Republic,
The Republic of Cyprus,
The Republic of Latvia,
The Republic of Lithuania,
The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg,
The Republic of Hungary,
The Republic of Malta,
The Kingdom of the Netherlands,
The Republic of Austria,
The Republic of Poland,
The Portuguese Republic,
The Republic of Slovenia,
The Slovak Republic,
The Republic of Finland,
The Kingdom of Sweden,
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland,
The European Community,
On the other hand,
Meeting in Luxembourg on 26 October 2004 for the signing of the cooperation agreement between the European Community and its Member States, of the one part, and the Swiss Confederation, of the other part, to combat fraud and any other illegal activity In respect of their financial interests, have adopted the following joint declarations and appended to this Final Act:
In addition, the plenipotentiaries of the Member States of the European Union and those of the Community, as well as the Plenipotentiaries of the Swiss Confederation, have adopted the Agreed Minute of the negotiations which is annexed to this Final Act. The Agreed Minute is binding.
Done at Luxembourg, 26 October 2004.
(Suivent signatures)
The Contracting Parties agree that Art. 2, para. 3, of the agreement on cooperation in the fight against money laundering includes in the context of prior facts those constituting tax fraud or smuggling by trade according to Swiss law. Information received on the basis of a money-laundering application may be used in procedures for money laundering, except in proceedings against Swiss persons if all relevant acts of the offence have been exclusively Committed in Switzerland.
The Contracting Parties take note of the Swiss Confederation's wish to be able to explore the possibility of cooperation between the Swiss Confederation in the work of Eurojust and, where possible, the European Judicial Network.
The Contracting Parties have agreed as follows:
Re art. 2, para. 1, let. (a)
The terms "fraud and any other illegal activity" also include smuggling, corruption and laundering of the proceeds of the activities covered by this Agreement, subject to s. 2, para. 3.
The terms "trade in goods in violation of customs and agricultural legislation" are heard independently of the passage (departure, destination or transit) or not of the goods by the territory of the other Contracting Party.
The terms'trade in breach of tax legislation in the field of value added tax, special taxes on consumption and excise duties' shall be heard independently of the passage (departure, destination or transit) or not Goods or services in the territory of the other Contracting Party.
Re art. 15, para. 2
The term "means of inquiry" includes hearings of persons, visits and searches in premises and means of transport, copying of documents, the request for information and the seizure of objects, documents and values.
Re art. 16, para. 2, para. 2
This paragraph includes, inter alia, that persons present may be allowed to ask questions and propose acts of inquiry.
Re art. 25, para. 2
The concept of multilateral agreements between the contracting parties includes, inter alia, the agreement between the European Union, the European Community and the Swiss Confederation on the association of the Swiss Confederation to the Implementation, application and development of the Schengen acquis.
Re art. 35, para. 1
By 'request for mutual legal assistance', it is also understood that the information and evidence must be transmitted to the authority of the requesting Contracting Party.
Re art. 43
The European Commission shall, no later than at the time of signature of the Agreement, communicate an indicative list of the territories to which this Agreement applies.
Member States |
Ratification |
Provisionally applied as soon as: |
Germany |
29.09.2008 |
09.04.2009 |
Austria |
23.06.2006 |
|
Belgium |
02.06.2008 |
28.09.2011 |
Bulgaria |
13.10.2008 |
08.04.2009 |
Cyprus |
25.01.2008 |
|
European Union |
19.12.2008 |
08.04.2009 |
Denmark |
08.11.2006 |
|
Spain |
16.11.2007 |
|
Estonia |
03.03.2005 |
06.01.2011 |
Finland |
15.01.2009 |
15.04.2009 |
France |
12.04.2007 |
08.04.2009 |
Greece |
||
Hungary |
31.03.2006 |
|
Ireland |
||
Italy |
20.04.2010 |
|
Latvia |
09.06.2005 |
|
Lithuania |
16.02.2007 |
|
Luxembourg |
29.01.2009 |
|
Malta |
14.05.2008 |
|
Netherlands |
21.12.2009 |
21.03.2010 |
Poland |
06.09.2006 |
08.04.2009 |
Portugal |
11.06.2008 |
19.01.2010 |
Czech Republic |
25.07.2006 |
|
Romania |
03.04.2008 |
08.04.2009 |
United Kingdom |
27.04.2006 |
20.04.2009 |
Sweden |
29.05.2008 |
08.04.2009 |
Switzerland |
23.10.2008 |
08.04.2009 |
Slovakia |
04.05.2007 |
22.04.2012 |
Slovenia |
21.12.2005 |
|
1 RO 2009 1297
2 Status of ratifications and provisional application of the Agreement between Switzerland and the European Community and its Member States (Art. 44, para. 3) in the Annex.
3 RO 2015 4067