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Taxation and Customs Union
News article10 January 2020Directorate-General for Taxation and Customs Union

UCC Work Programme Progress Report

On 13 December 2019, the European Commission published a report on the progress achieved in the development of the electronic systems under the UCC since its entry into force on 1 May 2016. This report was submitted to the Council and the European Parliament.

Commission publishes a report on the progress in developing the electronic systems provided for under the Union Customs Code

On 13 December 2019, the European Commission published a report on the progress achieved in the development of the electronic systems under the UCCsince its entry into force on 1 May 2016. This report was submitted to the Council and the European Parliament.

The UCC prescribes moving fully to a paperless environment for customs formalities. The use of electronic systems for all interactions between economic operators and customs authorities reduces administrative costs and red tape and leverages the role of customs to support the competitiveness of European business.

The Commission and Member States are working intensively to implement the electronic systems envisaged under the UCC. Once those systems are in place, all contacts between economic operators and customs authorities, and between customs authorities, will be carried out electronically and this will speed up and streamline customs clearance. A considerable number of these systems will be deployed by 2020, with the rest progressively deployed by 2025. The Commission is required under Article 278a UCC to produce an annual report on the progress of implementation of these IT systems, both by the Commission and also the Member States. This report also identifies the risks associated with these developments and outlines the mitigating actions which are envisaged to address these.

The Commission concludes that while both it and the Member States face challenges in ensuring the full deployment of the electronic systems by the relevant deadlines, it is also clear that tangible progress is being made. Several important electronic systems have already been deployed and are now fully operational. The remaining ones are mostly on track and planned to be completed in the period 2020-2025 in line with the planning of the projects defined in the UCC Work Programme.

Read the staff working document

Details

Publication date
10 January 2020
Author
Directorate-General for Taxation and Customs Union