Report from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions. Final evaluation of the Customs 2013 programme

The Customs Union is a foundation of the European Union and an essential element in the functioning of the internal market. The internal market can only function properly when there is a common application of common rules at its external borders. This implies that the 28 customs administrations of the Union must act as though they were one.

The Customs 2013 programme (henceforth referred to as: Customs 2013) was established by Decision 624/2007/EC as a multiannual action programme for customs in the European Union to support and complement action undertaken by Member States in ensuring the effective functioning of the internal market in the customs field. It builds upon four previous programmes: Matthaeus, Customs 2000, Customs 2002 and Customs 2007. The programme was primarily aimed at providing support to and fostering co-operation and co-ordination between the national customs administrations of the Member States, who were also the main beneficiaries.

In compliance with Article 22(1) of the programme Decision, a final evaluation was carried out under the responsibility of the Commission concentrating on the effectiveness and efficiency of the activities of the programme. The evaluation study was carried out by an external consultant, assisted in the process by a Steering Group composed of relevant Commission staff and representatives of 5 participating countries. The Steering Group supported the evaluation team at all stages of the evaluation process. The evaluation started in September 2013 and was finalised in August 2014.

The present report is based on the findings and conclusions presented in the external evaluation report. The Commission appreciates the overall quality of the external study supporting this evaluation and acknowledges the methodological difficulties and efforts undertaken to mitigate them. The findings are deemed credible and the conclusions accurately drawn.

• Primary Source

EUR-Lex: COM(2015)64: Follow the progress of this report through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2015:064:FIN

---