For the purposes of this Regulation:

1. 1.

   ‘competent authority of a Member State’, means:

   • in Belgium:

     • Le ministre des finances

     • De Minister van financiën,

   • F1in Bulgaria:

     Изпълнителният директор на Националната агенция за приходите,

   • F2in the Czech Republic:

     Ministerstvo financí,

   • in Denmark:

     Skatteministeren,

   • in Germany:

     Bundesministerium der Finanzen,

   • F2in Estonia:

     Maksuamet,

   • in Greece:

     Yπουργειο Oικονομίας και Οικονομικων,

   • in Spain:

     El Secretario de Estado de Hacienda,

   • in France:

     le ministre de l'économie, des finances et de l'industrie,

   • in Ireland:

     The Revenue Commissioners,

   • in Italy:

     il Capo del Dipartimento delle Politiche Fiscali,

   • F2in Cyprus:

     Υπουργός Οικονομικών ή εξουσιοδοτημένος αντιπρόσωπος του,

   • in Latvia:

     Valsts ieņēmumu dienests,

   • in Lithuania:

     Valstybinė mokesčių inspekcija prie Finansų ministerijos,

   • in Luxembourg:

     L'Administration de l'Enregistrement et des Domaines,

   • F2in Hungary:

     Adó- és Pénzügyi Ellenőrzési Hivatal Központi Kapcsolattartó Irodája,

   • in Malta:

     Dipartiment tat-Taxxa fuq il-Valur Miżjud fil-Ministeru tal-Finanzi u Affarijiet Ekonomiċi,

   • in the Netherlands:

     De minister van Financiën,

   • in Austria:

     Bundesminister für Finanzen,

   • F2in Poland:

     Minister Finansów,

   • in Portugal:

     O Ministro das Finanças,

   • F1in Romania:

     Agenția Națională de Administrare Fiscală,

   • F2in Slovenia:

     Ministrstvo za finance,

   • in Slovakia:

     Ministerstvo financií,

   • in Finland:

     • Valtiovarainministeriö

     • Finansministeriet,

   • in Sweden:

     Chefen för Finansdepartementet,

   • in the United Kingdom:

     The Commissioners of Customs and Excise;

2. 2.

   ‘central liaison office’, means the office which has been designated under Article 3(2) with principal responsibility for contacts with other Member States in the field of administrative cooperation;

3. 3.

   ‘liaison department’, means any office other than the central liaison office with a specific territorial competence or a specialised operational responsibility which has been designated by the competent authority pursuant to Article 3(3) to exchange directly information on the basis of this Regulation;

4. 4.

   ‘competent official’, means any official who can directly exchange information on the basis of this Regulation for which he has been authorised pursuant to Article 3(4);

5. 5.

   ‘requesting authority’, means the central liaison office, a liaison department or any competent official of a Member State who makes a request for assistance on behalf of the competent authority;

6. 6.

   ‘requested authority’, means the central liaison office, a liaison department or any competent official of a Member State who receives a request for assistance on behalf of the competent authority;

7. 7.

   ‘intra-Community transactions’, means the intra-Community supply of goods or services;

8. 8.

   ‘intra-Community supply of goods’, means any supply of goods which must be declared in the recapitulative statement provided for in Article 22(6)(b) of Directive 77/388/EEC;

9. 9.

   ‘intra-Community supply of services’, means any supply of services covered by Article 28b(C), (D), (E) and (F) of Directive 77/388/EEC;

10. 10.

    ‘intra-Community acquisition of goods’, means acquisition of the right to dispose as owner of movable tangible property under Article 28a(3) of Directive 77/388/EEC;

11. 11.

    ‘VAT identification number’, means the number provided for in Article 22(1)(c), (d) and (e) of Directive 77/388/EEC;

12. 12.

    ‘administrative enquiry’, means all the controls, checks and other action taken by Member States in the performance of their duties with a view to ensuring proper application of VAT legislation;

13. 13.

    ‘automatic exchange’, means the systematic communication of predefined information to another Member State, without prior request, at pre-established regular intervals;

14. 14.

    ‘structured automatic exchange’, means the systematic communication of predefined information to another Member State, without prior request, as and when that information becomes available;

15. 15.

    ‘spontaneous exchange’, means the irregular communication without prior request of information to another Member State;

16. 16.

    ‘person’, means:

    1. (a)

       a natural person;

    2. (b)

       a legal person; or

    3. (c)

       where the legislation in force so provides, an association of persons recognised as having the capacity to perform legal acts but lacking the legal status of a legal person;

17. 17.

    ‘to grant access’, means to authorise access to the relevant electronic database and to obtain data by electronic means;

18. 18.

    ‘by electronic means’, means using electronic equipment for the processing (including digital compression) and storage of data, and employing wires, radio transmission, optical technologies or other electromagnetic means;

19. 19.

    ‘CCN/CSI network’, means the common platform based on the common communication network (CCN) and common system interface (CSI), developed by the Community to ensure all transmissions by electronic means between competent authorities in the area of customs and taxation.