Customs 2000: Community action programme 1996-2000

In adopting the report by Mr Karl VON WOGAU (PPE,D), Parliament called for: - the reintroduction of the former title of the proposal ('programme for Community customs'); - the creation of a homogeneous European customs system and, in the long term, a genuine European customs authority financed with EC levies and customs duties; - reaffirmation of the concept of domestic market in which freedom of movement would be guaranteed; - rendering the concept of Community customs more tangible (the wearing of a uniform symbol); - ensuring a genuine mobility of customs officials between the various Member States; - ensuring joint training (joint further training programmes, European Customs Academy providing supplementary training); - the harmonization of checks by encouraging the development of targeting and risk-analysis techniques and the drawing up of a proper policy for retrospective checks (post-clearance); - the submission of a report on the Member States' legal provisions in order to bring out the difficulties encountered and ensure better coordination; - ensuring the joint interpretation of customs legislation; - making sure that all customs offices are able to provide real-time information on TIR documents by 1 January 1997; - computerizing the Community transit system by 1 January 1998; - measures facilitating access to information stored in the databases of other Member States; - measures for entering in a single database the data stored by the Member States; - priority to be given to customs control before release; - examining discrepancies in the powers granted to customs officers and considering the measures to be adopted in order to approximate and harmonize them; - strengthening cooperation with third countries and in particular the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, notably by opening up to them training programmes such as MATTHAEUS; - bringing forward by six months the date of publication of the final report and the interim report on this programme; - sharing the financing of the programme (ECU 50 m, including administrative costs, for the period 1996-2000) between the Community and the Member States. Parliament specified that revenue derived from penalties imposed for want of due application of Community law should be entered in Section III of the budget (Commission). The Member States should take care that the use of the sums retained as the cost of collecting own resources took the fullest account of this programme. �