On Monday 28 September, the European Commission presented its action plan to make the Customs Union “smarter, more innovative and more efficient” (see EUROPE 12454/21). The document, which contains 30 measures to be taken by 2025, is based on the results of the prospective project “The Future of Customs in the EU 2040”, launched in 2018.
One of the Commission's objectives is to make it easier for businesses to comply with their obligations so that EU customs can focus on detecting fraud and suspicious goods, said EU Taxation and Customs Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni at a press conference.
For example, one of the first legislative initiatives, due to be presented in October, will be the proposal for an EU ‘Customs Single Window’, which will make it easier for legitimate businesses to complete their border formalities in one single portal. In practical terms, this means that, for example, an importer of agricultural products will no longer have to lodge separate customs and phytosanitary declarations, the Commissioner explained.
The Commission estimates that, thanks to this initiative, EU businesses could save up to €690 million in customs formalities in the first 7 years of gradual implementation and between €140 million and €200 million per year thereafter.
The Action Plan also announces the creation of a new analysis centre within the Commission responsible for data collection, analysis and sharing, to facilitate the work of Member States' customs in risk management, post-clearance controls and anti-fraud actions.
The Commission also plans to launch a new strategy in 2021 to reshape the risk management framework for customs authorities and will carry out an interim evaluation of the EU Customs Code to see whether it is still fit for purpose.
E-commerce and fraud
In addition, the Commission wants to tackle the growth of e-commerce, which makes it difficult to comply with the rules for a large number of transactions on which customs currently has very little information.
In order to better fight fraud, it then commits to assess, from the third quarter of 2020, the options available to ensure that customs will have access to the data that payment service providers, such as Paypal and Amazon Pay, will be obliged to provide to Member States' tax authorities and will propose a definitive solution by 1 January 2024.
The Commission also intends to present proposals in 2021 to introduce new customs information requirements for platforms and to examine the effects of e-commerce on the collection of customs duties and on the level playing field for EU operators.
New strategic framework with China
On the international front, the Commission is committed to working towards the conclusion, before the end of the year, of an EU-China agreement on a new strategic framework for customs cooperation for the period 2021-2024. “This will support our efforts to facilitate trade and at the same time ensure effective controls”, said Paolo Gentiloni.
At the at the end of 2020, it will also launch a comprehensive review of the EU's system of international cooperation and mutual administrative cooperation in customs matters, including for China, with a view to proposing possible improvements in 2021.
The Commission envisages, as well, to expand its system for monitoring the application of preferential origin rules and procedures to the EU's 41 Free Trade Agreements in order to better protect the EU's financial interests.
It should be noted that the Action Plan does not address Brexit. The text only mentions the increased workload of the EU customs authorities due to the necessary preparations for the United Kingdom's departure from the Customs Union at the end of the transition period.
Asked about this at the press conference, Paolo Gentiloni did not wish to comment on the ongoing discussions with the United Kingdom and simply recalled that, for the European Commission, the Northern Ireland Protocol was a “fully legally operative solution”.
Learning from Covid-19
Lastly, the Commission also wants to draw lessons from the Covid-19 crisis, which, in its view, has made the need for intelligent management of the Customs Union even more important.
The Action Plan, which was initially due to be presented in July, was postponed in order to consult more widely with Member States and to ensure that these proposals reflect the lessons learned from the crisis, had explained Mr Gentiloni at that time (see EUROPE 12491/17).
In its Action Plan, the Commission proposes to establish, in early 2021, a new reflection group chaired by the Commission, to be financed by the Customs programme and open to all Member States, to help the Customs Union to be better prepared for future crises and problems, such as unforeseen developments in the world situation.
The Commission also believes that it is time to explore the possibility of setting up a completely new EU customs agency or part of an existing agency, with appropriate powers and which could allow for a better and more coordinated operational customs response to crises. To this end, in 2022, it will launch an impact assessment on the advantages and disadvantages of such an agency, the results of which will be available in 2023.
The Commission did not venture to make an overall estimate of the potential financial benefits of all these initiatives or of the amount related to fraud that could be recovered. Nevertheless, Commissioner Gentiloni said he was “confident” that these measures will lead to “good results”.
See the action plan: https://bit.ly/338CGrG (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)