Amended proposal for a European Parliament and Council Decision amending the Decision No 210/97/EC of the 19 December 1996 adopting an action programme for customs in the Community (Customs 2000)
Date: 1999-06-01
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: action programme, customs formalities, customs inspection, customs regulations, customs union

C 247 E/28

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Official Journal of the European Communities

31.8.1999

Amended proposal for a European Parliament and Council Decision amending Decision No
210/97/EC of 19 December 1996 adopting an action programme for customs in the Community
(Customs 2000) (1)

(1999/C 247 E/06)

COM(1999) 253 final (cid:151) 97/0314(COD)

(Submitted by the Commission pursuant to Article 250(2) of the EC Treaty on 2 June 1999)

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE
EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community, and in particular Article 95 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of
Committee,

the Economic and Social

(Amendment 2)

1a. Whereas on 6 March 1995 the European Parliament, the
Council and the Commission adopted a Joint Declaration
on the incorporation of financial provisions into legis-
lative acts (2);

(1) Whereas Decision No 210/97/EC of

the European
the Council of 19 December 1996
Parliament and of
in the
adopting an action programme for customs
common
Community (Customs 2000)
framework of objectives as
the basis of Community
action on customs matters to improve the efficiency and
standardisation of customs operations within the internal
market;

established a

budget of Customs 2000; whereas the report on the
implementation of
the Customs 2000 programme
(COM(98) 471) states that there have been considerable
delays in the computerisation of the transit system;

(4) Whereas a high level of training, of equivalent quality
through the Community is needed to guarantee the
success of
to
this programme; whereas,
increase the consistency of Community work and make
customs operations in the Community more uniform and
efficient, vocational training for Member State customs
officials along the lines of
the
Matthaeus programme
set up by Council Decision
91/341/EEC (3), should be developed within the Customs
2000 programme;

instituted under

in order

that

(5) Whereas,

to coordinate Community action to assist
national authorities in standardising and increasing the
efficiency of their customs operations in the context of
the internal market,
to have a unified
it
approach to the conduct of these operations;

is essential

(6) Whereas

to integrate

the best way of guaranteeing this unified
approach is
concerning
working methods, computerisation and the training of
customs officials within a single legal
instrument, and
finance them from a single budget heading;

all measures

(2) Whereas the operation of information exchange systems
at Community level has demonstrated the usefulness of
computerised systems in ensuring the correct application
of customs procedures throughout the customs territory
of the Community and protecting the Community’s own
resources while minimising the administrative burden;
whereas
these systems have proved to be essential
instruments of cooperation between the customs auth-
orities of the European Union;

(3) Whereas

communication and information exchange
systems should be created to meet the future needs of
customs systems in the interests of continued cooperation;

(Amendment 3)

3a. Whereas around 18 million transit operations are carried
out in the European Union per year; whereas the devel-
opment of the transit system represents 23 % of the total

(Amendment 4)

6a. Whereas such an integrated approach will guarantee not
only the necessary budgetary transparency for
the
European Parliament, the Council and the Commission
but also the transparency of European customs policy
as a whole;

(Amendment 6)

6b. Whereas the correct functioning of the sector and the
fight against fraud are the priorities in the implemen-
tation of the programme;

(7) Whereas the applicant countries of central and eastern
Europe, Cyprus and Malta should be allowed to take
part in the programme;

(8) Whereas the European Union has proposed allowing
Turkey to participate on a case-by-case basis in certain
Community programmes, under the same conditions as
the associated countries of central and eastern Europe;

(1) OJ C 396, 19.12.1998.
(2) OJ C 102, 4.4.1996, p. 4.

(3) OJ L 187, 13.7.1991, p. 41.

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(Amendment 7)

(Amendment 14)

8a. Whereas receipts from third countries are resources preal-
located to the programme in question and are entered as
such on the corresponding expenditure item;

(9) Whereas, to enable these amendments to have their full
impact, the programme’s implementation period should
be extended to 31 December 2002;

(10) Whereas, to assist the Commission in its administration of
the programme and facilitate the adoption of application
procedures, a committee should be set up in parallel to
the partnership bodies established under Decision No
210/97/EC;

1d. In Article 8 the following new paragraph 2b is added:

(cid:145)2b.
Elements to support the fight against fraud shall
be integrated in all actions taken in the framework of this
programme,
successful
hamper
unless
completion of the actions themselves(cid:146).

they

the

(Amendment 15)

1e. In Article 11 (cid:145)Article 3(cid:146) is replaced by (cid:145)Article 20(cid:146).

(Amendment 9)

(Amendment 16)

10a. Whereas

all decisions

taken under
procedure must be
for
Parliament and customs administrations

transparent

the
committee
the European

1f.

In Article 12 the following new paragraph 4a is added:

(Amendment 10)

10b. Whereas budgetary transparency is essential,

HAVE ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

prejudice

to modifications

the
(cid:145)4a. Without
Financial Regulation and of the Decision on the system
of own resources the Commission shall seek to establish,
in partnership with the Member States, performance
criteria to support
the Member
States’ performance in administering the collection of
EC customs duties(cid:146)

the monitoring of

of

Decision No 210/97/EC is hereby amended as follows:

2. New Article 14:

Article 1

1. In Article 1(2), the date (cid:145)31 December 2000(cid:146) is replaced by

(cid:145)31 December 2002(cid:146).

(cid:145)Information exchange and communication systems,
manuals and guides

(Amendments 11 and 18)

1a. Article 3 is amended as follows:

(cid:145)The Commission shall be responsible for the implemen-
tation of the programme which shall be coordinated and
organised in partnership with the Member States.(cid:146)

(Amendment 12)

1b. In Article 8(2) second indent the words (cid:145)by 1998(cid:146) are

deleted.

(Amendment 13)

1c. In Article 8 the following new paragraph 2a is added:

The computerisation of the transit system, referred
(cid:145)2a.
to in paragraph 2(2), must be finalised and fully oper-
ational by 30 June 2003. The Commission shall inform
the European Parliament immediately of any delays in the
development
the NCTS (new
computerised transit system)(cid:146).

and introduction of

1.
The Commission and the Member States shall be
responsible for the systems, manuals and guides as they
consider necessary. They shall establish and keep oper-
ational such new information exchange and communi-
cation systems, manuals and guides as
they consider
necessary.

and communication systems

The Community components of

the information
2.
exchange
the
hardware, software and the network connections which
have to be common to all Member States in order to
ensure the interconnection and interoperability of
the
systems, whether they are installed in the premises of
the Commission (or designated subcontractor) or of the
Member States (or designated subcontractor).

shall be

forming part of

3.
The non-Community components of the information
exchange and communication systems shall be the national
databases
the network
connections between the Community and non-Community
components and the software and hardware which each
Member State considers necessary to ensure optimal use of
the systems throughout the administration(cid:146).

the systems,

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Official Journal of the European Communities

31.8.1999

3. Article 14 becomes Article 15 and is amended as follows:

7. The following new Article 20 is inserted:

(cid:151) the words (cid:145)Decision 91/341/EEC and(cid:146) are deleted from

(cid:145)The Committee

paragraph 1,

(cid:151) paragraph 5 is deleted.

4. The following new Article 16 is inserted:

(cid:145)Exchanges of officials and seminars

1.
shall
The Commission and the Member States
organise exchanges of officials. Each exchange shall focus
on a specific aspect of customs work and shall be
thoroughly prepared and subsequently evaluated by the
officials and authorities concerned.

Member States shall take the measures necessary to ensure
that their officials participate effectively in the work of the
host authorities; to that end, the officials concerned shall
be authorised to carry out tasks relating to the respons-
abilities conferred on them by the host authorities in
accordance with their legal systems.

For the duration of the exchange, the official shall, in the
exercise of his duties, bear the same civil
liability as
national officials of the host authorities. Officials taking
part in an exchange shall be subject to the same rules
on professional confidentiality as the national officials of
the host country.

The Commission and Member States shall organise
2.
seminars to be attended by Member State and Commission
officials and, where appropriate, representatives of
the
business and academic world.(cid:146)

The Commission shall be assisted in carrying out its tasks
by a committee made up of Member State representatives
and chaired by a Commission representative.

to the
The Commission representative
committee a draft of
the measures to be taken. The
Committee shall deliver its opinion on the draft, within a
time limit which the chair may lay down according to the
urgency of the matter, deciding by vote where appropriate.

submit

shall

The opinion shall be entered in the minutes; each Member
State shall also have the right to require that its opinion is
included in the minutes.

The Commission shall take full account of the Committee
opinion. It shall inform the Committee of how it has taken
account of its opinion(cid:146).

(Amendment 19)

8. Article 17 becomes Article 21 and is amended as follows:

1.

(unchanged)

(cid:145)2. Member States shall forward to the Commission:

(cid:151) by 31 December 1999 at the latest, an interim report,

and

(cid:151) by 31 December 2002 at the latest, a final report on

the implementation of this programme.

5. Articles 15 and 16 become Articles 17 and 18 respectively.

3.
The Commission shall
Parliament and to the Council:

submit

to the European

(Amendment 17)

6. The following new Article 19 on the participation of

applicant countries is inserted:

(cid:145)Applicant countries’ participation

The applicant countries of Central and Eastern Europe may
in the programme in accordance with the
take part
the Europe Agreements concerning the
provisions of
terms of such participation,
in so far as Community
customs law permits. The programme shall also be open
to Cyprus, to Turkey by virtue of the customs union, in so
far as Community customs law permits, and to Malta.

(cid:151) by 30 June 2000 at the latest, an interim report on the

implementation of this programme,

(cid:151) by 30 June 2001 at the latest, a communication on the
desirability of continuing this programme, accom-
panied, if necessary, by an appropriate proposal,

(cid:151) by 30 June 2003 at the latest, a final report on the

implementation of this programme.

These reports shall also be forwarded to the Economic and
Social Committee for information.

The annual breakdown of appropriations dedicated to the
cofinancing of this programme published in Annex IV, part
B, Section III to the EU budget(cid:146).

3a.
The communication and final report referred to
under paragraph 3 shall analyse all the progress achieved
in the case of each measure in the programme. They shall

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be accompanied by a report analysing the strengths and
weaknesses of any kind of customs computerisation
systems involved in the implementation of the internal
market.

January 1996 to 31 December 2002,
EUR 142,3 million (1).

is hereby set at

The annual appropriations shall be authorised within the
limit of the financial perspectives(cid:146).

treatment

These reports shall set out any proposals for ensuring
for operators all over Community
identical
information to
customs territory and the gathering of
help ensure that the Community’s financial
interests are
properly protected.(cid:146)

9. Article 18 becomes Article 22 and paragraph 1 is amended

as follows:

10. The Annex is deleted.

Article 2

Council Decision 91/341/EEC of 20 June 1991 on the adoption
of a programme of Community action on the subject of the
vocational training of customs officials (Matthaeus programme)
shall be repealed with effect from the date of publication of
this Decision.

(cid:145)Without prejudice to operations financed under other
Community programmes, the financial framework for the
the period 1
implementation of

this programme for

Article 3

This Decision is addressed to the Member States.

(1) Corrigendum COM(98) 644 final/2.