On Tuesday 24 March, the European Commission published its roadmap for drawing up its action plan to “take the Customs Union to the next level”, which should be presented on 10 June according to a provisional timetable. The document, which is open for consultation until 21 April, outlines the main thrust of his thinking.
The objective of the communication will be to improve the functioning of the Customs Union by setting out a long-term strategy that will stand the test of time and suggest a series of actions for an integrated EU approach, the Commission explains.
One major challenge will also be to tackle the growth of e-commerce, which makes it difficult to comply with the rules for a large number of transactions, about which customs currently has very little information, it specifies.
Its action plan should therefore contain new initiatives to improve risk management, to ensure similar levels of customs control throughout the Customs Union and to help Member States meet new challenges, such as e-commerce.
The communication will focus in particular on the creation of an “integrated approach to border management in the EU and in the different areas of control activities”. It will also set out the idea of setting up a “new cooperation structure to effectively govern risks across the EU”, the paper says.
The Commission also intends to focus on the effective implementation of the legal framework to avoid revenue losses and to ensure better protection of the security of EU citizens and the single market.
It will also insist on strengthening the options for interoperability of systems with the competent authorities as well as strengthening customs cooperation within the EU and with non-Member States.
See the document submitted for consultation: https://bit.ly/39eeu6V (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)