COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE EVALUATION Evaluation 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
Date: 2023-12-15
Institutions: European Anti-Fraud Office, European Commission
Subjects: European Commission, administrative cooperation, agrarian law, application of EU law, customs cooperation, customs regulations, customs territory (EU), exchange of information, interinstitutional cooperation (EU)

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 15.12.2023  SWD(2023) 429 final  COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT  EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE EVALUATION  Evaluation 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    {SWD(2023) 428 final}  
 
 
1. 

INTRODUCTION 

Council  Regulation  (EC)  No  515/971  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  (‘the 
Regulation’) is the cornerstone of mutual assistance in customs matters at European level.  

The aim of the Regulation is to: 

•  Strengthen  the  cooperation  between  Member  States  and  between  the  latter  and  the 
Commission by ensuring the correct application of customs and agricultural law; 
•  Reinforce the protection of the financial interests of the EU, the environment and the 

safety and health of citizens. 

The  Regulation  is  accompanied  by  the  three  secondary  acts:  Commission  Delegated 
Regulation  (EU)  2016/7572,  Commission  Implementing  Regulation  (EU)  2016/3463  and 
Commission implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/3454. 

Since  the  last  revision  of  the  Regulation  in  2015,  several  developments  with  a  potential 
impact on the functioning of the Regulation, for example in the areas of data protection5 and 
cash  movements6,  have  occurred  which  prompted  the  evaluation  of  the  Regulation  and  its 
robustness. Moreover, new fraud risks in the customs sector, such as the surge of low-value 
consignments imported into the EU via e-commerce platforms, have been identified. 

The Regulation has not been evaluated before, therefore the evaluation exercise assesses the 
overall  functioning  of  the  Regulation,  according  to  the  standard  evaluation  criteria  of 
effectiveness,  efficiency,  relevance,  coherence  and  EU  added-value.  Consideration  has  been 
given to coherence with other related mutual assistance legal instruments such as the Naples 
II  Convention7  on  mutual  assistance  and  cooperation  between  customs  administrations,  and 
Council Decision 2009/917/JHA8 on the use of information technology for customs purposes.  

1 Council Regulation (EC) No 515/97 of 13 March 1997 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 

2 Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/7572 of 3 February 2016, determining those operations in connection with 
the  application  of  agricultural  regulations  which  require  the  introduction  of  information  into  the  Custom  Information 
System 

3  Commission  Implementing  Regulation  (EU)  2016/346    of  10  March  2016,  determining  the  items  to  be  included  in  the 

Customs Information System; 

4  Commission  implementing  Regulation  (EU)  2016/345    of  10  March  2016,  setting  out  the  frequency  of  reporting  of 

container status messages, the format of the data and the method of transmission 

5 Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2018 on the protection of natural 
persons with regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies and on the free 
movement of such data, and repealing Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 and Decision No 1247/2002/EC. 
6 Regulation (EU) 2018/1672 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2018 on controls on cash entering 
or leaving the Union and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1889/2005 
7 Convention drawn up on the basis of Article K.3 of the Treaty on European Union, on mutual assistance and cooperation 

between customs administrations (Official Journal C 024, of 23/01/1998 P. 0002 – 0022). 

8 Council Decision 2009/917/JHA of 30 November 2009 on the use of information technology for customs purposes. 

1 

 
 
 
The evaluation focuses on the key elements of the Regulation, such as its scope, the mutual 
assistance  between  Member  States,  the  cooperation  between  them  and  the  Commission,  the 
relations with third countries and the IT systems and databases covered. It considers the extent 
to which the objectives pursued are being met and remain relevant.  In particular, it assesses 
whether the data and data quality contained in these databases are sufficient to enable customs 
authorities to combat fraud effectively or whether there are gaps in the data coverage and if 
so, why. 

The  evaluation  covers  the  time  period  from  1  September  2016,  the  date  of  the  entry  into 
application of the latest revision (Regulation 2015/15259), until 1 September 2019. 

2.  WHAT WAS THE EXPECTED OUTCOME OF THE INTERVENTION? 

Combating fraud in the context of the customs union and the common agricultural policy calls 
for close cooperation between the administrative authorities responsible in each Member State 
and  cooperation  between  these  national  authorities  and  the  Commission.  Effective 
cooperation  in  these  fields  strengthens  the  protection  of  the  financial  interests  of  the  Union 
and contributes to the safety and health of citizens and the protection of the environment. 

The Regulation  sets  out  the rules under which  customs and agriculture  administrations may 
cooperate  administratively  at  bilateral  and  Union  level  to  ensure  the  correct  application  of 
customs and  agriculture  law. This  cooperation is  carried out  by using mutual  administrative 
assistance  mechanisms  in  the  form  of  exchange  of  information,  joint  operational  actions, 
training  courses  or  collection  of  evidence  and  other  support  provided  during  administrative 
enquiries. It can take place between Member States or between these and the Commission or 
at international level with non-EU countries. The nature and outcome of such activities varies 
considerably  in  terms  of  duration,  number  of  authorities  involved,  allocated  resources  and 
necessary efforts to achieve the proposed aim. 

The Regulation also puts in place a number of IT applications, hosted under the Anti-Fraud 
Information  System  (AFIS),  to  support  the  related  mutual  assistance  activities.  The  Anti-
Fraud  Information  System  (AFIS)  was  set  up  by  the  Commission  in  1997  as  the  single 
technical  infrastructure  hosting  the  various  IT  applications  for  the  storage  and  exchange  of 
information  for  the  purposes  of  the  Regulation.  The  AFIS  system  is  available  to  users  in 
Member States, partner third countries, international organisations, Commission services and 
other EU Institutions. 

The Regulation was last amended by Regulation (EU) 2015/1525, which entered into force on 
1 September 2016.  

The  changes  aimed  at  improving  the  detection,  investigation  and  analysis  tasks  in  the  anti-
fraud area, enhance the cooperation by optimising systems and processes leading to better use 

9  Regulation  (EU)  2015/1525  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  9  September  2015  amending  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 

2 

 
 
 
of the existing tools and facilitate cooperation between individual Member States and between 
Member States and the Commission. In the long term, the revised Regulation should present 
an  opportunity  to  increase  significantly  the  number  of  detected  fraud  cases  and  other 
irregularities in the agricultural and customs domains and thereby help to protect the financial 
interests of the European Union. 

3. 

 EVALUATION FINDINGS  

For  the  evaluation  of  the  current  state  of  play,  relevant  stakeholders  dealing  with  the 
implementation  of  customs  and  agricultural  legislation  in  Member  States,  Commission 
departments,  European  and  international  bodies,  data  protection  authorities  and  maritime 
shipping  carriers  were  consulted  via  targeted  questionnaires  and  interviews.  The  evaluation 
report  is  based  on  the  answers  collected  during  the  stakeholder  consultation,  feedback  from 
meetings and available reports with relevance in the customs domain.  

The Regulation allows for the storage and exchange of information at European level, which 
provides  an  added-value  hardly  achievable  through  bilateral  exchanges  at  Member  States 
level,  with  the  consequent  optimization  of  resources.  Member  States  and  Commission 
departments define a clear need for these information channels.  

All  respondent  Member  States  use  the  Regulation  to  a  high  degree  and  consider  the 
Regulation as being useful for their work.  

Overall,  the  Regulation  is  considered  to  be  fit  for  the  purpose,  although  some  areas  for 
improvement were identified.  

4.  CONCLUSIONS  

The Regulation is considered to be effective, efficient, relevant, coherent and has a clear EU 
added  value.  Generally,  stakeholders  are  satisfied  with  the  Regulation  as  it  currently  stands 
and consider that it remains a good instrument to tackle the new challenges arising in the fight 
against fraud.  

The Regulation’s objectives have been achieved to a great extent, but more could be done in 
practical  terms  to  optimize  some  of  its  sections  in  order  to  enable  Member  States  national 
authorities  to  cooperate  and  exchange  information  among  themselves  and  with  the 
Commission  in  a  time-saving  and  more  effective  manner.  This  can  be  done  without 
necessarily amending the Regulation. In this respect, the Commission could consider specific 
initiatives to improve and facilitate the practical implementation of the Regulation by Member 
States and the Commission. 

3