Decision No 105/2000/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 1999 amending Decision No 210/97/EC adopting an action programme for customs in the Community (Customs 2000) and repealing Council Decision 91/341/EEC
Date: 1999-12-17
Institutions: Council of the European Union, European Parliament
Subjects: action programme, customs cooperation, customs regulations, customs union, enlargement of the Union

19. 1. 2000

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 13/1

I

(Acts whose publication is obligatory)

DECISION No 105/2000/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL

of 17 December 1999

amending Decision No 210/97/EC adopting an action programme for customs in the Community
(Customs 2000) and repealing Council Decision 91/341/EEC

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE
EUROPEAN UNION,

(4)

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

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (1),

Around 18 million transit operations are carried out in
the European Union per year and the development of
the new computerised Transit system represents 23 % of
the total budget of Customs 2000; however, the Report
on the implementation of the Programme states that
there have been considerable delays in the computerisa-
tion of the Transit system;

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social
Committee (2),

(5)

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article
251 of the Treaty (3),

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

Decision No 210/97/EC of the European Parliament and
of the Council of 19 December 1996 adopting an action
programme for customs in the Community (Customs
2000) (4) established a common 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;

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;
these systems have proved to be essential instruments of
cooperation between the customs authorities of
the
European Union;

Communication and information exchange systems
should be created and it should be ensured that future
needs of customs systems are met in the interests of
continued cooperation;

(1) OJ C 396, 19.12.1998, p. 13 and OJ C 247, 31.8.1999, p. 28.
(2) OJ C 138, 18.5.1999, p. 1.
(3) Opinion of the European Parliament of 15 April 1999 (OJ C 219,
30.7.1999, p. 409), Council Common Position of 13 September
1999 (OJ C 317, 4.11.1999, p. 12) and Decision of the European
Parliament of 2 December 1999 (not yet published in the Official
Journal) and Council Decision of 16 December 1999.

(4) OJ L 33, 4.2.1997, p. 24.

A high level of training, of equivalent quality throughout
the Community, is needed to guarantee the success of
this programme; in order to 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 that instituted under the Matthaeus programme
set up by Council Decision 91/341/EEC of 20 June
1991 (5) should be developed within the Customs 2000
programme;

(6)

(7)

(8)

(9)

To coordinate Community action to assist national
authorities to improve their customs operations in the
context of the internal market, it is essential to have a
unified approach to the conduct of these operations;

The best way of guaranteeing this unified approach is to
integrate all measures concerning working methods,
computerisation and the training of customs officials
within a single legal instrument, and finance them by
means of a single budget heading;

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

The fight against fraud and the correct functioning of
the sector are the priorities in the implementation of the
programme;

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

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Official Journal of the European Communities

19. 1. 2000

The programme should be opened to participation by
the applicant countries of Central and Eastern Europe,
Cyprus and Malta;

2. Article 3 shall be deleted;

3. Article 8 shall be amended as follows:

(10)

(11)

(12)

(13)

(14)

(15)

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 asso-
ciated countries of Central and Eastern Europe;

Since receipts from the abovementioned third countries
are resources pre-allocated to the programme in ques-
tion,
they should be entered as such on the corre-
sponding expenditure item;

This Decision establishes, for the entire duration of the
programme, a financial framework which constitutes the
prime reference, within the meaning of point 33 of the
Interinstitutional Agreement between the European
Parliament, the Council and the Commission of 6 May
1999 on budgetary discipline and improvement of the
budgetary procedure (1);

To enable the amendments brought into effect by this
Decision to have their full impact, the Customs 2000
programme's implementation period should be extended
to 31 December 2002;

The measures necessary for the implementation of this
Decision should be adopted in accordance with Council
Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying down
the procedures for the exercise of implementing powers
conferred on the Commission (2);

(16) Given the importance which should be attributed to

budgetary transparency,

HAVE ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

(a) in the second indent of point 2 of the second subpara-
graph of paragraph 2, the words ‘by 1998’ shall be
deleted;

(b) the following paragraphs shall be added:

the Transit

The computerisation of

system,
‘3.
referred to in the second indent of point 2 of the
second subparagraph of paragraph 2, must be fully
operational by 30 June 2003. The Commission shall
inform the European Parliament and the Council
immediately of any delays in the introduction of the
New Computerised Transit System (NCTS).

4.
Elements to support the fight against fraud shall
be integrated in all actions taken in the framework of
this programme, unless they hamper the successful
completion of the actions themselves.’

4.

in Article 11, the words, ‘within the framework of Article
‘within the framework of the
3’ shall be replaced by,
procedure provided for in Article 16b’;

5. The following paragraph shall be added to Article 12:

‘5. Without prejudice to amendments to the Financial
Regulation of 21 December 1977 applicable to the general
the European Communities (1), and Council
budget of
Decision 94/728/EC, Euratom of 31 October 1994 on the
system of own resources of the European Communities (2),
the Commission shall seek to establish, in partnership with
the Member States, performance criteria to support the
monitoring of the Member States' performance in adminis-
tering the collection of customs duties.

(1) OJ L 356, 31.12.1977, p. 1. Regulation as

last
amended by Regulation (EC, ECSC, Euratom) No 2729/
98 (OJ L 347, 23.12.1998, p. 3).

(2) OJ L 293, 12.11.1994, p. 9.’

Article 1

6. the following Article shall be inserted:

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

‘Article 13a

1. Article 1 shall be amended as follows:

(a) paragraph 2 shall be replaced by the following:

‘2.
The action programme shall be known as the
Customs 2002 Programme and shall be implemented
for the period 1 January 1996 to 31 December 2002.’,

(b) The following paragraph shall be inserted:

‘2a.
A common approach regarding the customs
policy shall be drawn up in partnership between the
Commission and the Member States in a Customs
Policy Group, composed of Heads of Customs Admin-
istrations from the Commission and the Member States
or their representatives. The Commission shall keep
the Customs Policy Group regularly informed of meas-
ures
the
programme.’;

implementation

relating

the

to

of

(1) OJ C 172, 18.6.1999, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23.

Information exchange and communication systems,
manuals and guides

1.
The Commission and the Member States shall be
responsible for the operability of such existing informa-
tion exchange and communication systems, manuals and
guides as they consider necessary. They shall establish
such new information exchange and communication
systems, manuals and guides as they consider necessary
and shall keep them operational.

shall be

and communication systems

The Community components of

the information
2.
exchange
the
Community databases forming part of these systems, the
the software and the network connections
hardware,
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 prem-
ises of the Commission (or designated subcontractor) or
of the Member States (or designated subcontractor).

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The non-Community components of the informa-
3.
tion exchange and communication systems shall be the
national databases forming part of
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 administra-
tion’;

these systems,

Article 16b

Implementation

The measures necessary for the implementation of this
programme relating to the matters referred to below
shall be adopted in accordance with the management
procedure referred to in Article 16c(2).

7. Article 14 shall be amended as follows:

(a) the words

‘Decision 91/341/EEC and’

shall be

deleted from paragraph 1;

Article 16c

Committee

(b) paragraph 5 shall be deleted.

8. The following Article shall be inserted:

‘Article 14a

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 necessary steps to enable
in the host service.
exchange officials to be operational
To this end, exchange officials shall be authorised to
carry out the formalities relating to the duties entrusted
to them. If circumstances so require, and in particular in
order to take account of the specific requirements of the
the competent
system of each Member State,
legal
authorities in the Member States may limit
the said
authorisation.

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.

2.
shall
The Commission and the Member States
organise seminars to be attended by Member State and
Commission officials and, where appropriate, representa-
tives of the business and academic world.’;

9. the following Articles shall be inserted:

‘Article 16a

1.

The Commission shall be assisted by a committee.

2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Articles
4 and 7 of Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply, having
regard to the provisions of Article 8 thereof.

The period laid down in Article 4(3) of Decision 1999/
468/EC shall be set at three months.

3.

The Committee shall adopt its rules of procedure.’;

10. Article 17 shall be amended as follows:

(a) paragraphs 2 and 3 shall be

replaced by the

following:

‘2. Member States shall forward to the Commis-
sion:

— by 31 December 2000 at the latest, an interim

report, and

— by 31 December 2002 at

the latest, a final

report

on the implementation of this programme.

The Commission shall submit to the European

3.
Parliament and to the Council:

— by 30 June 2001 at the latest, an interim report
on the implementation of this programme,

— by 30 June 2001 at the latest, a communication
on the desirability of continuing this programme,
accompanied,
if necessary, by an appropriate
proposal,

— by 30 June 2003 at the latest, a final report on

the implementation of this programme.

reports

These
Economic and Social Committee for information.’

forwarded to the

also be

shall

Applicant countries' participation

(b) the following paragraph shall be added:

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

law permits.

The annual breakdown of appropriations dedicated to
the co-financing of the programme shall be published in
Annex IV, Part B, Section III of the budget of the Euro-
pean Union.

The communication and final report referred
‘4.
the progress
to in paragraph 3 shall analyse all
achieved in the
in the
programme. They shall 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.

each measure

case of

for ensuring that

These accompanying reports shall set out any useful
proposals
is
treatment
reserved for operators throughout
the Community
customs territory and that the gathering of informa-
tion serves the proper protection of the Communi-
ty's financial

interests.’,

identical

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11. paragraph 1 of Article 18 shall be replaced by the

Article 3

following:

the implementation of

‘1. Without prejudice to operations financed under
other Community programmes, the financial framework
the
for
period 1 January 1996 to 31 December 2002 is hereby
set at EUR 135 million in accordance with the arrange-
ments set out in the Annex.

this programme for

This Decision shall enter into force on the day of its publi-
cation in the Official Journal of the European Communities.

Article 4

This Decision is addressed to the Member States.

The annual appropriations shall be authorised within the
limit of the financial perspective.’

12. The Annex shall be replaced by the text in the Annex

to this Decision.

Done at Brussels, 17 December 1999.

Article 2

Decision 91/341/EEC shall be repealed with effect from the
date of entry into force of this Decision.

For the European Parliament

For the Council

The President

N. FONTAINE

The President

K. HEMILÄ

ANNEX

‘ANNEX

Breakdown of the financial framework referred to in Article 18(1)

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

Total

(in ECU/EUR million)

Internal policies

Redeployment of internal market
appropriations

—

3,8

2,6

2,9

3,2

3,2

3,2

18,9

Training

Computerisation

Improvement
combating fraud

of means

of

1,0

—

2,7

1,8

15,0

1,5

2,6

15,0

1,5

2,6

16,5

1,5

2,6

16,8

1,5

2,6

16,9

1,5

10,4

83,9

9,3

External actions

1,9

2,7

1,9

1,5

1,5

1,5

1,5

12,5

Total

2,9

11,0

21,0

23,5

25,3

25,6

25,7

135,0’