Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council - Final evaluation of the Customs 2007 programme in accordance with Article 19 of Decision 253/2003/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of 6 February 2003 adopting an action programme for customs in the Community (Customs 2007)
Date: 2008-10-07
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU programme, action programme, customs, customs union, project evaluation

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COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 7.10.2008 
COM (2008) 612 final  

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND 
THE COUNCIL 

Final evaluation of the Customs 2007 programme in accordance with Article 19 of 
Decision 253/2003/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of 6 February 2003 
adopting an action programme for customs in the Community (Customs 2007) 

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REPORT FROM THE COMMISSON TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND 
THE COUNCIL  

Final evaluation of the Customs 2007 programme in accordance with Article 19 of 
Decision 253/2003/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of 6 February 2003 
adopting an action programme for customs in the Community (Customs 2007) 

1. 

THE CUSTOMS 2007 PROGRAMME 

The  Customs  2007  programme  was  established  by  Decision  253/2003/EC  of  the  European 
Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  6  February  2003.  It  was  the  third  Community  action 
programme for customs, and covered the period from 1 January 2003 to 31 December 2007. 
Participation in Customs 2007 was open to the 27 EU Member States, as well as to Croatia 
and  Turkey.  The  cost  of  the  programme  was  shared  between  the  European  Community  and 
the participating countries. 

The  Customs  2007  programme  was  primarily  aimed  at  providing  support  for  and  fostering 
cooperation  and  coordination  between  the  national  customs  administrations  of  the  Member 
States,  who  were  the  programme’s  primary  beneficiaries.  To  achieve  its  objectives  (which 
were spelled out in the Customs 2007 Action Plan, Part I), the programme relied primarily on: 

•  Joint  actions,  including  seminars,  workshops  and  project  groups,  exchanges  of  officials, 
training  activities,  benchmarking  and  other  actions.  Such  joint  actions  accounted  for 
approximately 20% of the programme budget. 

•  Information  technology  (IT)  systems,  including  the  New  Computerised  Transit  System 
(NCTS), as well as a number of tariff-related systems (including the information system on 
the integrated tariff of the Community — TARIC) and risk management and information 
systems (including the electronic risk information form system — RIF). Nearly 80% of the 
programme budget was earmarked for the IT systems. 

The  financial  framework  for  the  five  years  of  the  programme’s  implementation  was  set  at 
EUR 165.55 million. 

2. 

THE PURPOSE OF THE FINAL EVALUATION 

Article  19  of  Decision  253/2003/EC  stipulates  that  the  Customs  2007  programme  “shall  be 
subject  to  continuous  evaluation1,  carried  out  by  the  Commission  in  collaboration  with  the 
participating  countries.”  The  final  evaluation  was  launched  in  November  2007,  and  was 
finalised  in  May  2008.  It  covered  the  entire  intervention  (2003-2007).  The  Terms  of 
Reference for the final evaluation stipulate that its primary objective is to assess: 

•  what effects (results and impacts) have been obtained; 

1 

Mid-term  evaluation  was  completed  in  December  2005.  See  Commission  Staff  Working  Document: 
Report from the Commission: Mid-term evaluation of the Customs 2007 programme, SEC (2006) 35. 

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•  how they have contributed to the achievement of the objectives (effectiveness); 

•  and whether these effects were obtained at reasonable costs (efficiency). 

The  final  evaluation  collected  feedback  and  data  from  all  stakeholder  groups  in  the 
programme: the Commission, the participating countries’ customs administrations, and traders 
(also  referred  to  as  economic  operators).  Given  the  difficulty  of  finding  straight-forward 
indicators  to  measure  the  success  of  Customs  2007  (due  to  the  programme’s  complex  and 
multi-faceted  nature  and  its  broad  set  of  objectives),  the  evaluation  assessed  the  effects  of 
Customs 2007 in a broader sense, using a mix of qualitative information and quantitative data 
(where available) to judge its impacts and effectiveness. 

3. 

METHODOLOGY 

The methodology for gathering data and information featured the following: 

•  Evaluation  questionnaire  for  national  customs  administrations:  a  detailed  questionnaire 
was  sent  to  the  Customs  2007  national  contact  points  (NCPs)  of  all  29  participating 
countries, asking them to express their views on the programme, and to substantiate them 
by providing data and factual information. 

•  Information  questionnaire  to  the  European  Commission:  the  Commission’s  Directorate-
General for Taxation and Customs Union (DG TAXUD) provided additional data (mostly 
quantitative) on the inputs and outputs of the Customs 2007 programme. 

•  Case studies: four case studies were carried out, each focusing on one of the programme 
priorities.  As  part  of  the  case  studies,  more  than  80  interviews  were  conducted  with 
participants  in  a  sample  of  joint  actions,  including  customs  officials  from  23  different 
participating countries, economic operators and DG TAXUD officials. 

•  Online surveys: two separate surveys were conducted — one targeted at customs officials 
who  participated  in  joint  actions  under  Customs  2007  and/or  used  the  IT  systems  (this 
survey  drew  1 243  responses),  the  other  of  economic  operators  who  were  involved  in 
Customs 2007 activities (133 responses). 

•  Desk research: the desk-based research made use of existing sources of evidence, including 
the ART and CIRCA databases, and other documents that are either in the public domain 
or were made available by stakeholders. 

The analysis of the information collected through these tools and methods was guided by an 
analytical framework of judgment criteria and indicators developed during the initial phase of 
the  evaluation.  Large  parts  of  this  framework  were  based  on  the  programme’s  intervention 
logic  (derived  from  the  structure  of  objectives,  priorities  and  sub-priorities  in  the  Customs 
2007 Action Plan). Where appropriate and feasible, quantitative indicators developed in 2003 
for programme evaluation were also used. 

4. 

RESULTS AND IMPACTS/EFFECTIVENESS 

Customs  2007  pursued  the  following  four  main  objectives  (cf.  the  Customs  2007  Decision 
and the Customs 2007 Action Plan, Part I): 

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•  Protection of Community interests: In particular to provide the necessary protection of the 
financial interests of the European Union and provide a secure and safe environment for its 
citizens. 

•  Trade  facilitation:  to  enable  Member  States’  administrations  to  meet  the  demands  placed 
on  them  by  globalisation  and  increasing  volumes  of  trade  and  contribute  towards 
strengthening the competitive environment of the European Union. 

•  Equivalent results/infrastructure: to enable Member States’ administrations to interact and 
perform their duties as efficiently as though they were one administration, and to achieve 
equivalent results at every point of the Community customs territory. 

•  Enlargement:  to  take  the  necessary  steps  to  prepare  for  enlargement  and  to  support  the 
integration  of  new  Member  States,  and  to  ensure  the  security  of  the  future  EU  external 
frontier. 

Based  on  the  purpose  of  the  evaluation  and  the  programme  objectives,  eight  evaluation 
questions  were  formulated.  The  first  four  questions  concerned  the  extent  to  which  Customs 
2007  has  contributed  to  achieving  each  of  these  objectives.  The  fifth  question  asked  for  a 
separate  assessment  of  the  extent  to  which  the  IT  systems  contributed  to  achieving  these 
objectives. The main conclusions concerning these elements are summarised in the following 
paragraphs.  

4.1. 

Has Customs 2007 contributed to providing a safe and secure environment for 
citizens and to protecting the Community’s financial interests? 

From  the  information  gathered  during  the  evaluation  it  can  be  concluded  that  the  Customs 
2007  programme  has  made  a  significant  contribution  to  protecting  the  relevant  Community 
interests. More than 80% of all national customs administrations indicated that Customs 2007 
has  contributed  “somewhat”  or  “a  lot”  to  both  providing  a  safe  and  secure  environment  for 
citizens,  and  to  protecting  the  Community’s  financial  interests.  This  was  achieved  through 
numerous  programme  actions 
rationalisation, 
standardisation and/or general improvement of customs legislation and procedures, as well as 
actions to increase cooperation between customs authorities in general. 

the  simplification, 

that  dealt  with 

Overall, the feedback received from stakeholders gives a strong indication that Customs 2007 
is  widely  perceived  as  a  vitally  important  facilitator  and  catalyst  of  pragmatic  and  fruitful 
cooperation  between  all  relevant  actors  in  the  area  of  customs  legislation,  procedures  and 
formalities (including fraud prevention and the fight against counterfeit). The concrete results 
of  various  working  groups  that  are/were  active  in  this  area,  the  broader  effect  of  better 
contacts  between  national  administrations  (e.g.  through  exchanges),  and  the  IT  and 
information  exchange  systems  developed  under  Customs  2007,  have  all  contributed  to  the 
overall  positive  assessment  of  the  impact  of  Customs  2007  concerning  the  protection  of 
Community interests. 

4.2. 

Has Customs 2007 contributed to the facilitation of trade? 

Overall, the evaluation indicates that Customs 2007’s role in facilitating trade has been mixed. 
There is a clear tendency (particularly over the last three to four years) to provide economic 
operators  with  the  opportunity  to  participate  in  working  groups,  seminars  and  other  joint 
actions, and thereby to collaborate throughout the process of drafting new rules, procedures, 

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specifications, etc.  Economic operators were very appreciative of the Commission’s (and to 
some extent also Member States’) willingness and efforts to involve them and seriously listen 
to  their  concerns.  The  vast  majority  of  customs  officials  also  welcomed  the  enhanced 
participation  of  economic  operators,  although  a  few  voiced  concerns  that  an  “excessive” 
involvement  of  economic  operators  can  sometimes  be  an  obstacle  to  efficient  and  effective 
decision-making. 

On the other hand, economic operators were somewhat less enthusiastic concerning the actual 
impacts  of  cooperation  on  minimising  the  burdens  placed  on  legitimate  trade  and  on 
simplifying  and  modernising  customs  procedures  and  formalities.  While  several  actions 
carried out under the Customs 2007 programme have helped to reduce the burdens for traders 
(e.g.  implementation  of  the  New  Computerised  Transit  System),  there  were  complaints  that 
most  new  measures  and  initiatives  carried  out  in  Europe  since  the  terrorist  attacks  of  9/11 
have focused primarily on safety and security issues, often resulting in additional burdens for 
trade.  The  relatively  low  number  of  joint  actions  that  explicitly  addressed  the  programme 
objective of trade facilitation is a further indication of a certain imbalance (although it should 
be noted that numerous other actions not explicitly linked to this objective are also likely to 
have indirectly contributed to trade facilitation). 

4.3. 

Has Customs 2007 helped national customs administrations to work as though 
they were one? 

The evaluation has shown that the Customs 2007 programme has contributed significantly to 
this  objective  by  facilitating  the  uniform  implementation  of  customs  law,  as  well  as  the 
harmonisation  of  working  methods  in  many  different  subject  areas.  This  relates  to  ensuring 
equivalent results at all points of the customs territory, and it is confirmed by trader responses 
to  the  survey,  that  the  customs  administrations  of  the  EU  Member  States  have  made 
significant progress towards performing their duties as though they were one. 

Customs 2007 has clearly contributed to bringing the national customs administrations closer 
together, and to harmonising and standardising processes and approaches. Concrete examples 
include  the  common  IT  systems  developed  under  Customs  2007  and  the  common  training 
approach  and  e-learning  tools.  On  a  softer,  more  “human”  level,  Customs  2007  actions 
facilitate  the  exchange  of  knowledge,  experiences,  best  practices,  and  simply  personal 
contacts  across  national  borders,  and  thereby  also  contribute  to  making  the  work  done  by 
customs administrations across Europe more coordinated. 

4.4. 

Has  Customs  2007  provided  support  for  the  new  Member  States  and  the 
candidate countries in their integration and preparation for accession? 

Based on feedback from the customs administrations of the new Member States and candidate 
countries themselves, the Customs 2007 programme has been very helpful in their integration 
and  preparation  for  accession  to  the  EU  (the  majority  stated  that  the  programme  has 
contributed  “a  lot”  to  this  objective).  The  case  study  confirmed  that  the  Customs  2007 
programme  is  highly  appreciated  by  customs  officials  in  the  new  Member  States,  who 
highlighted its value for knowledge-sharing, the exchange of experiences and approaches, and 
networking in general. 

The support Customs 2007 provided for the accession and integration of new Member States 
stems primarily from three types of initiatives. 

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•  There  have  been  a  number  of  actions  aimed  specifically  at  new  Member  States  and/or 
candidate  countries  (including  benchmarking  projects  and  technical  support).  These  have 
often  had  a  positive  impact  on  capacity  building  and  the  adoption  of  more  effective 
approaches and procedures. 

•  Candidate countries have the opportunity to participate in the programme and its different 
(not enlargement-focused) working and project groups, seminars, etc. from an early stage 
of their accession process. This gives future Member States an early insight into EU laws, 
procedures and formalities and their implementation, and allows them to start updating and 
adapting their own rules and processes even before they officially join the EU. 

•  The various IT systems developed with the support of Customs 2007, and the activities to 
support  their  implementation  and  train  users,  have  also  contributed  to  the  smooth 
integration of the customs administrations of new Member States. 

4.5. 

To  what  extent  have  the  IT  systems  helped  to  achieve  the  programme’s 
objectives? 

Under  the  Customs  2007  programme,  great  strides  have  been  made  to  ensure  the 
(inter)operability of numerous IT systems. As of today, all systems that were assessed appear 
to be running smoothly, and the high levels of satisfaction from users are a strong indication 
of  their  usefulness.  This  is  not  to  say,  however,  that  some  problems  do  not  persist;  the 
evaluation  has  identified  a  number  of  weaknesses  of  specific  IT  systems  that  should  be 
addressed. 

Overall, the evaluation results suggest that the IT systems have helped significantly to make 
progress  towards  the  programme’s  objectives  II  (trade  facilitation)  and  III  (equivalent 
results/infrastructure). As regards the former, the New Computerised Transit System (NCTS) 
seems  to  have  made  the  largest  contribution  by  simplifying  and  speeding  up  the  transit 
procedure for both traders and administrations in participating countries. Some tariff-related 
systems  —  in  particular  the  information  system  on  the  integrated  tariff  of  the  Community 
(TARIC)  and  the  European  binding  tariff  information  system  (EBTI) —  have  also  had  an 
impact on trade facilitation by improving the availability of information and increasing legal 
certainty for traders. 

As  regards  the  programme’s  objective  I  (protection  of  Community  interests),  there  was 
widespread  agreement  that  the  IT  systems  (especially  the  tariff-related  systems)  have 
improved  the  availability  of  data  contributing  to  protection  of  the  Community’s  financial 
interests. On the other hand, the fight against fraud was not the main focus of the IT systems, 
because  the  development  and  maintenance  of  the  IT  systems  dedicated  to  the  fight  against 
fraud are covered by other legal instruments2. However, the electronic risk information form 
system  (RIF)  is  expected  to  become  more  and  more  useful  for  improving  customs  controls 
and  therefore  preventing  fraud  in  the  future,  as  the  development  of  a  common  risk 
management framework progresses. 

2 

Council Regulation (EC) No 515/97 on mutual assistance between the administrative authorities of the 
Member States and cooperation between the latter and the Commission to ensure the correct application 
of the law on customs and agricultural matters (OJ L82-22.03.1997) and Council Convention drawn up 
on the basis of Article K.3 of the Treaty on European Union, on the use of information technology for 
customs purposes signed on 26/07/1995 (Official Journal C316, 27/11/1995 P. 0034-0047). 

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5. 

EFFICIENCY, UTILITY AND SUSTAINABILITY 

The  final  three  evaluation  questions  dealt  with  the  Customs  2007  programme’s  efficiency, 
utility  and  sustainability.  The  main  conclusions  concerning  these  aspects  are  summarised  in 
the following paragraphs. 

5.1. 

Could Customs 2007 be more efficient and achieve the same results and impact 
at lower costs? 

Overall, the evaluation results indicate that the Customs 2007 programme is efficient. At the 
level  of  joint  actions,  the  tools  that  are  considered  most  effective  by  beneficiaries  (in 
particular working groups,  project groups and exchanges) are the  ones  that  are  most  widely 
used,  and  on  which  the  largest  part  of  the  budget  is  spent.  The  case  studies  also  suggested 
there  was  little  potential  for  cost  savings  on  the  sample  of  20  actions  that  were  assessed  in 
detail.  The  cost-effectiveness  of  development  and  support  through  Customs  2007  for  the 
various  customs  IT  systems  is  more  difficult  to  assess;  however,  feedback  from  users  and 
beneficiaries  suggests  widespread  satisfaction  with  the  IT  systems,  and  an  appreciation  that 
their impacts justify their costs. 

The programme management structures and procedures were also judged to work well by the 
programme  beneficiaries.  However,  for  several  participating  countries  the  amount  of 
resources  (especially  human  resources)  available  at  national  level  for  management  and 
coordination  were  deemed  insufficient  for  ensuring  that  the  potential  benefits  of  Customs 
2007 are reaped in full. 

Finally,  only  approximately  60%  of  the  budget  earmarked  for  Customs  2007  had  actually 
been spent by the end of 2007. Although some additional spending of funds committed under 
Customs 2007 is scheduled for 2008 and 2009 (under longer-term contracts concluded under 
Customs  2007,  primarily  for  IT-related  services),  the  total  amount  will  remain  significantly 
below the maximum available budget envelope. This is due primarily to the fact that spending 
on  the  development  and  support  of  IT  systems  has  been  substantially  lower  than  expected. 
The  reasons  for  this  are  likely  to  lie  in  a  combination  of  several  factors,  which  makes  it 
difficult to draw clear-cut conclusions as to the efficiency of the programme. Nonetheless, it 
should be noted that Customs 2007 achieved its impacts not at a cost of EUR 165.55 million, 
but of around EUR 95 million to date, plus additional spending estimated to be in the region 
of 10-15 million scheduled for the coming years. 

5.2. 

Did  the  impacts  correspond  to  the  needs  identified  and  the  problems  to  be 
solved? 

The  evaluation  found  that  the  impacts  achieved  by  the  programme  correspond  to  the  needs 
identified and the problems to be solved to a large extent, due to the fact that: 

a) 

b) 

All four of the Customs 2007 programme’s main objectives are relevant and address 
important  needs  and  priorities  of 
the  national  customs  administrations  of 
participating countries; there appear to be no other significant needs of participating 
countries that the programme should have covered. 

The impacts of Customs 2007 have contributed (to some extent) to achieving all four 
programme objectives (see above). 

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As a consequence, the utility of the programme was high. By offering mechanisms, tools and 
processes for all relevant actors across the EU in the area of customs to jointly address, debate 
and resolve important issues related to customs legislation and procedures, Customs 2007 has 
clearly  helped  national  customs  administrations  to  make  progress  as  they  strive  towards 
working as though they were one administration. The programme has also made an important 
contribution to the preparation for enlargement and integration of new Member States, as well 
as to the protection of Community interests. Finally, although it is unclear whether on balance 
the measures adopted under Customs 2007 have helped to facilitate trade, it is clear that the 
programme has been useful in reducing the burdens on legitimate trade in certain areas, and in 
limiting the additional burdens imposed by some new measures aimed at enhancing safety and 
security. 

5.3.  Will the effects achieved by Customs 2007 last in the medium and long term? 

The  Customs  2007  programme  has  undoubtedly  produced  a  number  of  concrete  outputs 
whose effects will last in the medium and long term. Key examples of such durable impacts 
include draft texts developed by working groups under Customs 2007 that have come to form 
part of legislation that has been or is about to be adopted; a series of operational IT systems 
whose development and implementation has been crucially aided by activities under Customs 
2007; and the e-learning modules that were developed and are already being used in several 
Member States. 

Nonetheless, the full realisation of the potential positive impacts will depend on continuation 
of the programme. The programme provides a vital mechanism to accompany, jointly debate 
and develop ongoing as well as new initiatives to be launched in the area of customs (be they 
of a legal, procedural, technological, political or other nature), and ultimately to improve their 
quality,  effectiveness,  coherence  and  acceptability  for  participating  countries  and  economic 
operators. A discontinuation of the Customs programme would raise serious concerns among 
all  beneficiaries  and  stakeholders  that  cooperation  and  coordination  among  them  would 
suffer, to the detriment of further progress towards all of the Customs 2007 objectives. 

6. 

RECOMMENDATIONS 

6.1. 

General Recommendations 

The  final  evaluation  has  confirmed  that  the  Customs  2007  programme  has  had  a  positive 
impact  on  the  work  of  customs  in  Europe.  It  is  greatly  appreciated  by  its  beneficiaries  and 
stakeholders, and effectively contributes (in some cases very significantly) to all of its main 
objectives.  Therefore,  the  final  evaluation  reaffirms  what  was  already  indicated  in  the  mid-
term evaluation — the need for continuation of the Customs 2007 programme. To ensure the 
successor programme(s) work(s) as smoothly and effectively as possible, it (they) should: 

•  Maintain  the  objective-based  management  approach,  thus  ensuring  all  activities  pursue  a 
set of clearly defined goals in line with the programme’s overall objectives, and facilitating 
monitoring and evaluation. 

•  Review  the  list  of  priorities  and  sub-priorities  with  a  view  to  ensuring  the  continued 
validity of the objective-based approach based on a clear hierarchy of relevant and feasible 
goals.  Some  Customs  2007  priorities  may  no  longer be relevant, while others appear too 
broad or too specific. 

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•  Enhance the visibility and usefulness of the Annual Work Programme (AWP) by using it 
to set very clear key priorities for the year to come (rather than limiting it to going through 
all objectives and priorities of the Action Plan). 

•  Continue to make ample use of project/working groups and exchanges, which were found 
to be the most effective action types by beneficiaries, and when well-focused, have shown 
themselves to be capable of producing very useful, tangible and concrete results. 

•  Other  types  of  joint  actions  (including  seminars,  benchmarking,  etc.)  can  also  be  very 
useful in specific circumstances, but their success depends to a great extent on the way in 
which  they  are  organised.  The  Customs  2007  guidelines  for  benchmarking  in  particular 
should  be  reviewed  to  address  weaknesses  in  the  use  of  this  tool  identified  by  the 
evaluation.  

6.2. 

Specific Issue Areas 

The evaluation has identified a number of issues related to specific subject areas that should 
be  addressed.  In  order  to  continue  to  build  on  the  progress  made  to  date,  and  succeed  in 
tackling  the  issues  that  are  most  important  to  stakeholders,  Customs  2007’s  successor 
programme(s) should: 

•  Place increased emphasis on trade facilitation. This is the key objective for traders as well 
as  for  many  participating  countries’  national  customs  administrations,  but  has  received 
relatively  less  attention  under  Customs  2007  (in  comparison  with  the  other  main 
objectives).  To  help  minimise  the  burdens  on  legitimate  trade,  it  will  be  particularly 
important to: 

•  Ensure  timely  delivery  on  the  E-Customs  initiative  and  avoid  de-acceleration  of 

the process before the benefits for economic operators begin to materialise. 

•  Prioritise  activities  concerning  single  authorisations,  including  the  Authorised 
Economic  Operator  (AEO)  and  Single  Authorisations  for  Simplified  Procedures 
(SASP),  and  work  towards  truly  uniform  recognition  and  application  of  these 
concepts across the entire EU. 

•  Continue  to  involve  economic  operators  in  relevant  joint  actions  so  as  to  ensure 
that  the  needs,  experiences  and  views  of  traders  are  recognised  and  taken  into 
account in the development of new rules, procedures, tools, etc. 

•  Undertake  further  work  on  risk  analysis  and  management,  which  is  a  key  area  for 
improving  and  standardising  customs  controls  and  procedures  and  effectively  combating 
fraud.  Further  work  on  risk  profiles,  indicators,  rules,  etc.,  as  well  as  on  finding  ways  to 
facilitate and maximise their use by all national customs administrations, should focus on: 

•  Identifying  politically  sensitive  elements  of  risk  management  (partly  due  to  the 
fact  that  what  is  legal  in  one  Member  State  can  be  illegal  in  another),  and 
addressing them on relevant levels. 

•  Continuing to emphasise activities and practical exercises directly aimed at further 

harmonisation of risk management approaches across the EU. 

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•  Continue to pursue and implement the new common training approach while ensuring that 
the  production  of  e-learning/blended  learning  modules  does  not  become  an  end  in  itself, 
and that other areas for action are not neglected. This includes: 

•  Holding  an  open  and 

the  Commission  and 
inclusive  dialogue  between 
participating  countries  in  order  to  decide  on  the  priorities  for  future  years 
(including what other training-related areas participating countries would like the 
programme to address). 

•  Reviewing  and  —  if  necessary  —  adapting  the  content,  frequency,  duration  and 
structure of the meetings of the Training Management Group, in order to enable it 
to  play  a  more  active  role  in  coordinating  programme  activities  in  the  area  of 
training. 

•  Continue  to  build  on  the  progress  made  concerning  the  IT  systems,  by  further  exploring 

and addressing areas for improvement and/or new actions such as: 

•  Addressing  the  specific  challenges  and  weaknesses  identified  by  the  evaluation 

that affect several of the IT systems currently deployed at the EU level.  

•  Striving for pan-European harmonisation of interfaces with traders for all customs 
procedures.  The  Commission  has  proposed  guidelines  for  the  harmonisation  of 
such interfaces across the EU in the past, and the evaluation found that nearly half 
of the participating countries considered that Customs 2007 could or should have 
further supported the harmonisation of interfaces at European level.  

6.3. 

Flanking Measures 

Finally, there are some “flanking” measures that the evaluators recommend for consideration 
to enhance the programme’s effectiveness, and thereby contribute to its ability to achieve its 
objectives: 

•  Urge  participating  countries  to  ensure  that  sufficient  human  resources  are  allocated  to 
programme  coordination,  management  and  administration  at  the  level  of  each  national 
customs administration. 

•  Develop communication activities targeted at relevant institutional audiences (in particular 
the respective national  ministries  responsible for  customs)  in order to raise the profile of 
Customs 2007 and the awareness of its role, the opportunities it provides and effects it has 
had  (and  thereby  inter  alia  enhance  the  chances  of  sufficient  resources  being  made 
available). 

•  Revisit the indicators and measures of success developed at the start of the Customs 2007 
programme, with a view to deciding on a definitive list of relevant and feasible indicators 
that can be used for programme monitoring and evaluation in the future. 

EN 

10 

   EN