On Friday 19 December, the EU Member States adopted a partial negotiating mandate for the regulation establishing the Single Market and Customs Programme (SMCP) for 2028-2034. They have largely adopted the European Commission’s proposal (see EUROPE 13701/9). The mandate is partial in that it excludes horizontal and financial issues which are being discussed as part of the negotiations on the multi-annual budget (MFF).
In its proposal published in September, the Commission suggested merging five programmes into a single one, with a budget of €6.2 billion: - part of the single market programme, the customs programme, the customs control equipment instrument, the ‘Fiscalis’ programme and the anti-fraud programme. The EU Council approved the merger and the objectives of SMCP.
The main change introduced by the EU Council relates to the governance of the programme: the Member States want to be more involved in the implementation of the fund and have introduced an article in the text so that the European Commission will be assisted in its decisions by a committee made up of experts from the Member States.
For the rest, they insist on the production of high-quality economic statistics as part of the programme, and on the importance of having customs control equipment that is reliable in the face of security breaches and resistant to potential interference from third countries.
See the partial mandate: https://aeur.eu/f/k46 (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)