Brussels, 20/11/2013 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 20 November, the European Commission decided to send Belgium to the European Court of Justice.
Belgium has failed to bring its legislation into line with EU rules on customs opening hours and administrative fees. Under EU rules, frontier posts must be open for inspections and customs procedures for at least ten hours uninterrupted from Monday to Friday, and on Saturday for at least six hours without a break, but Belgian customs offices have restricted opening hours and over-charge operators for any overtime incurred. Even during normal opening hours, customers are charged extra for validating, invalidating and discharging declarations, and for handling requests for repayment.
The Commission points out that, under the EU treaty, charges with equivalent effect to customs duties are not allowed between member states and the European Court of Justice has ruled that such charges shall also be prohibited in relation to imports from outside the EU. Under EU rules, customs authorities may, however, charge a proportionate fee that corresponds to a specific service provided to the operator. The Commission says the Belgian fees do not respect these criteria as they are not calculated against the actual cost of services carried out. (MB/transl.fl)