Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament pursuant to the second subparagraph of Article 251 (2) of the EC Treaty concerning the common position of the Council on the adoption of a proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and the Council amending Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 establishing the Community Customs Code
Date: 2004-11-30
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU law, carriage of goods, customs inspection, customs regulations, simplification of formalities, transport safety

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 30.11.2004 
COM(2004) 770 final 

2003/0167 (COD) 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION 
TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 

pursuant to the second subparagraph of Article 251 (2) of the EC Treaty 

concerning the 

common position of the Council on the adoption of a proposal for a Regulation of the 
European Parliament and the Council amending Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 
establishing the Community Customs Code 

EN 

   EN 

 
 
 
  
 
 
2003/0167 (COD) 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION 
TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 

pursuant to the second subparagraph of Article 251 (2) of the EC Treaty 

concerning the 

common position of the Council on the adoption of a proposal for a Regulation of the 
European Parliament and the Council amending Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 
establishing the Community Customs Code 

1. 

BACKGROUND 

Proposal  sent  to  the  EP  and  the  Council  (document 
COM(2003)452 final – 2003/0167 (COD): 

24th July 2003. 

Opinion of the European Parliament, first reading: 

20th April 2004 

Amended proposal made orally by the Commission to the 
Council Working Party on Customs Union (Legislation & 
Policy): 

4th May 2004 

Adoption of the common position: 

29.11.2004 

2. 

OBJECTIVE OF THE COMMISSION PROPOSAL 

The  aim  of  the  proposal  is  to  provide  the  legal  framework  and,  thereby,  the 
possibility  for  the  rapid  implementation  of  enhanced  security  controls  of  goods 
crossing  EU  borders,  including  requirements  linked  to  the  US  Container  Security 
Initiative (CSI), while, at the same time, remaining in step with the e-customs plans 
for the future. 

3. 

3.1 

COMMENTS ON THE COMMON POSITION 

General 

The  common  position,  on  which  political  agreement  was  reached  on  the  18th  May 
2004, follows the general lines of the Commission's amended proposal. The changes 
have been made in order to provide greater clarity and to provide for a more flexible 
and  suitable  legislation  that  will  meet  the  aim  of  maintaining  a  proper  balance 
between customs controls and the facilitation of legitimate trade. 

3.2 

Consideration of the amendments proposed by Parliament at first reading 

In its common position the Council did not agree to all of the amendments proposed 
by the European Parliament, but eighteen of the twenty six amendments adopted by 

EN 

2 

   EN 

 
 
 
the  Parliament  are  incorporated,  in  principle,  into  this  common  position.  This 
concerns amendments 1, 3, 4, 7, 11 to 23 inclusive and 26. 

The  Council  did  not  accept  those  amendments  with  which  the  Commission 
disagreed; 

– 

– 

– 

Amendments 2, 5, 6, 24 and 25, which would limit the new measures only to 
imports and restrict the roles of customs offices in the application of risk-based 
controls  relating  to  safety  and  security;  these  have  been  rejected  as  not  in 
keeping with the intentions of the amended legislation; 

Amendment 9, as it is not consistent with the improved legislation, relating to 
facilitations for reliable economic operators, contained in the common position; 
and 

Amendments 8 and 10, which are not in line with the terminology used in other 
provisions within the Customs Code. 

3.3. 

New provisions introduced by the Council 

The  common  position  includes  certain  further  modifications,  made  by  the  Council, 
which will strengthen the safety and security aspects, including the requirement for 
pre-departure declarations for exports (Articles 182a – 182d), which are in line with 
the  Community  taking  a  global  approach  to  security  and  safety  for  exports  to  all 
countries,  not  just  those  imposing  additional  security  measures  on  imports,  such  as 
the  USA,  and  with  recent  WCO  documents  on  the  responsibilities  of  parties  in  an 
end-to-end international supply chain. 

The common position also provides better for Community-wide common rules, such 
as for pre-arrival declarations (Articles 36a- 36c), and includes clear definition of the 
role of customs offices (Article 4), in line with the Council Conclusion on the role of 
customs in the integrated management of external borders. 

Furthermore, the position now establishes an effective framework for an authorised 
economic  operator  programme  (Article  5a)  through  which  reliable  traders  will  be 
able  to  benefit from trade  facilitation and security certification, an initiative  widely 
supported both by Member States and by traders 

4. 

CONCLUSION 

The  Commission  fully  supports  the  common  position  which  incorporates  and 
improves upon a number of the amendments made by the EP. 

EN 

3 

   EN