COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE IMPACT ASSESSMENT Accompanying the document Proposal for a REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL establishing the 'Customs' programme for cooperation in the field of customs
Date: 2018-06-08
Institutions: Directorate-General for Taxation and Customs Union, European Commission
Subjects: EU financing, EU programme, customs, customs cooperation, customs union, information system, third country

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 8.6.2018  SWD(2018) 322 final  COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT  EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE IMPACT ASSESSMENT  Accompanying the document Proposal for a  REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL establishing the 'Customs' programme for cooperation in the field of customs {COM(2018) 442 final} - {SEC(2018) 295 final} - {SWD(2018) 321 final}  
 
 
Executive Summary Sheet 

Impact assessment on a Proposal for a Regulation establishing the 'Customs' programme for cooperation in the field 
of customs 

A. Need for action 

Why? What is the problem being addressed?  
Over  recent  years,  customs  performance  has  been  influenced  by  trends  such  as  globalisation  inducing 
exponentially  growing  volumes  of  goods  –  and  corresponding  data  –  and  ever-increasing  security  threats  and 
transnational crime. In reply thereto, a modernisation of the customs union through the Union Customs Code has 
been  initiated1  requiring  multiple  new  European  electronic  systems.  Rapidly  changing  technologies  (digitalisation, 
connected-ness, Internet of things, blockchain), new business models (e-commerce, supply chain optimisation) and 
reduced public financial means create additional new challenges for customs administration.  
Against  this  backdrop,  the  functioning  of  the  customs  union  suffers  from  a  problem  of  insufficient  uniformity  and 
customs administrations lacking efficiency. The drivers at the root of this problem are three-fold: unequal capacity of 
customs  administrations;  uneven  interpretation  and  implementation  of  legislation  (UCC  and  other);  obstacles  for 
cooperation between customs administrations and with other stakeholders. 
The  effect  of  this  performance  problem  is  that  the  customs  union  has  not  reached  its  full  potential,  which  in  turn 
jeopardises the functioning of the internal market, wrecks social fairness and undermines EU competitiveness.  

What is this initiative expected to achieve?  
1. The Programme has the general objective to support the customs union and customs authorities to protect the 
financial and economic interests of the Union and its Member States, ensure security and safety within the Union 
and protect the Union from unfair and illegal trade while facilitating legitimate business activity. 
2. The  Programme  has  the  specific  objective  to  support  the  preparation  and  uniform  implementation  of  customs 
legislation  and  policy  as  well  as  customs  cooperation  and  administrative  capacity  building,  including  human 
competency and the development and operation of European electronic systems. 

What is the value added of action at the EU level?  
Although  customs  is  an  area  of  exclusive  competence  with  a  high  degree  of  harmonised  EU  legislation,  the 
implementation remains entirely with the individual Member States and the customs union can therefore only be as 
strong  as  its  weakest  link.  Facing  global  and  trans-European  challenges  in  an  efficient  and  coherent  way  across 
Europe  cannot  be  achieved  by  the  EU  or  Member  States  individually.  Cooperation  and  operational  integration 
between  national  customs  administrations  are  needed.  Added  value  is  most  present  in  the  area  of  IT  where  the 
programme allows developing and running a series of commonly defined European electronic systems at a reduced 
cost than if done nationally.  

B. Solutions 

What legislative and non-legislative policy options have been considered? Is there a preferred choice 
or not? Why?  
Various policy options were considered, which mainly depend on the level of political ambition for the programme. 
Key options are “option 2 – critical mass” and “option 3 – continuity plus” (preferred option):  

-  Option 2 – Critical mass: this option aims at funding all UCC and some new (non UCC) electronic systems, 
ensuring  the  continuity  of  EU  customs  operations  and  complying  with  new  obligations  under  EU  customs 
legislation.  With  no  other  ambition  than  achieving  the  UCC  implementation  and  already  proposed 
legislation, this scenario would impose a thorough reconsideration of EU customs ambition. 

-  Option 3 – Continuity "plus":  this  option  proposes  to  effectively  address  the  present  and  upcoming 
challenges of the customs union. It aims at allowing actions necessary to strengthen the performance of EU 
customs  administrations.  Concretely,  IT  capacity  building  would  ensure  that  new  (non-UCC)  customs  IT 
projects can be  on-boarded  and  innovation  is  possible.  Cooperation  would  be increased  and  improved  to 
reinforce the capacities of customs administrations to engage with other authorities, to ensure compliance, 
to  fight  fraud  and  increase  security,  to  work  more  in  clusters  on  a  thematic  or  geographic  basis  and  to 
accompany the deeper integration brought about by the new IT environment. With limited additional means, 
this option would increase significantly the programme’s overall EU added value.  

1  The  Union  Customs  Code  (UCC)  is  part  of  the  modernisation  of  customs  and  serves  as  the  new  framework 
regulation  on  the  rules  and  procedures  for  customs  throughout  the  EU.  Its  substantive  provisions  entered  into 
force on 1 May 2016.  

1 

 
                                                 
Who supports which option?  
All  stakeholders  favour  option  3.  The  European  Parliament,  Council  and  Court  of  Auditors  all  expressed  their 
support for an ambitious EU customs programme contributing to a better and more uniform implementation of the 
customs union. Stakeholder’s consultations mainly focused on customs administrations as direct beneficiaries of the 
programme.  They  also  strongly  supported  the  continuation  of  this  well-functioning  programme  and  suggested 
reaping exponential benefits by reinforcing marginally its actions as per option 3.  

C. Impacts of the preferred option 

What are the benefits of the preferred option (if any, otherwise main ones)?  

Customs administrations are the direct beneficiaries of the programme. Under option 3, the programme will provide 
them  with  the  necessary  (operational,  organisational,  methodological  and  budgetary)  framework  for  cooperation. 
Administrative  capacity  building,  including  IT  and  human  capacity,  will  help  them  evolve  further  towards  modern 
administrations  able  to  deal  with  the  increased  number  of  core  tasks  incumbent  on  them.  The  preferred  option 
would improve the functioning of the customs union and customs authorities by substantially reinforcing cooperation 
among  Member  States  and  with  third  countries,  as  well  as  by  strengthening  the  performance  of  customs 
administrations everywhere in the EU. Equally, this option would allow the evolution of IT capacity in line with EU 
customs policy over time. Improving customs performance through joint IT solutions and cooperation directly affects 
the fluidity of legitimate trade of goods entering and leaving the Union territory as customs will better and quicker 
detect and stop unsafe and illicit goods at the border. Citizens and businesses are benefitting mostly indirectly from 
actions  carried  out  under  the  programme,  thanks  to  communication  networks  and  European  electronic  systems 
allowing  exchange  of  information  and  cooperation  between  customs  administrations.  Due  to  a  lack  of 
comprehensive quantitative data, the benefits were mainly assessed based on gathered qualitative information. 

What are the costs of the preferred option (if any, otherwise main ones)?  

No specific economic, social and environmental negative impact is expected. 

How will businesses, SMEs and micro-enterprises be affected?  

The  programme  does  not include  any measure  targeting  directly  businesses, SMEs  and  micro-enterprises.  Some 
indirect benefits for businesses will come from common portals, available training tools and progress made towards 
a single window. 

Will there be significant impacts on national budgets and administrations?  
The programme aims at financing actions in favour of customs administrations. The main expenditure will happen 
through public procurement for developing and running European electronic systems. Those systems not being fully 
centralised, investments are also needed at national level for putting them in place.  

Will there be other significant impacts?  
There are no other significant impacts.  

D. Follow up 

When will the policy be reviewed?  
To facilitate the evaluation of the programme, a framework  for monitoring the results  achieved by the programme 
will  be  put  in  place.  Full  transparency  with  regular  reporting  on  monitoring  and  evaluation  to  the  European 
Parliament and to the Council will be ensured. An interim evaluation looking at the achievement of the objectives of 
the programme, its efficiency and its added value at European level will be carried out. A final evaluation will deal 
with the long-term impact and the sustainability effects of the programme.  

2