The Council of the European Union has approved a series of measures within the action plan with the aim of taking the customs union to the next level.
According to communication Friday (18.12.2020) the Action plan sets out a set of initiatives to make European Union (EU) customs smarter, more innovative and more efficient in the context of challenges such as increasing digitalisation, e-commerce and the UK's exit from the EU single market and the Customs Union.
In its conclusions, the institution stresses that complex challenges in the customs field are best addressed through cooperation and full respect for the competences and responsibilities of the EU and the Member States. Overall, the EU Customs Union is performing well. Therefore, Measures to improve its functioning should be based on existing resources, structures and procedures, taking into account innovation and the changing circumstances in which customs operate. The High Level Working Group of the Council of Directors General of Customs will examine the implementation of customs actions of strategic relevance and their consistency with the conclusions.
With regard to the specific initiatives submitted by the European Commission, it is noted that:
- Analysis center: invites the European Commission to set up a new analytical centre to collect, analyse and share key customs data, in close cooperation with Member States.
- Electronic commerce: encourages the Commission to further examine the use of collected VAT data for customs purposes. Furthermore, it looks forward to its assessment as to the feasibility of establishing customs reporting obligations for e-commerce operators, in particular online sales platforms. This will facilitate more effective controls and tackle tax and customs duty fraud.
- Single window: looks forward to the planned establishment of an EU "single window for customs" that would allow businesses to complete customs formalities in a single portal. It also stresses that sufficient harmonisation of declaration requirements in non-customs policy areas is a precondition for its successful implementation.
- Modernization: highlights the importance of modern and secure customs equipment.
- Cooperation: Considers that cooperation between customs authorities and border police services should be strengthened
The statement by the Council of the European Union is in response to an initiative by the European Commission, in the framework of what is commonly known as the "institutional triangle" (Commission-Council-Parliament).
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