Introductory text

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 October 2013 laying down the Union Customs Code^f1, and in particular to Article 281 thereof,

Whereas:

Article 6 of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 laying down the Union Customs Code provides that all exchanges of information between customs authorities and between economic operators and customs authorities and storage of such information are to be made using electronic data processing techniques. Article 280 of the Regulation provides that the Commission is to draw up a work programme relating to the development and deployment of the electronic systems (‘the work programme’).

The Commission adopted the first work programme by means of Commission Implementing Decision 2014/255/EU^f2 and updated it for the first time in 2016 by means of Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2016/578^f3. The 2016 work programme needs to be updated to take account of new resource- and priority-based planning for the electronic systems. It is also necessary to take account of the amendment to Article 278 of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 made by Regulation (EU) 2019/632 of the European Parliament and of the Council^f4 to prolong the transitional use of means other than the electronic data-processing techniques provided for in Regulation (EU) No 952/2013. To ensure stable and reliable planning for deployment of electronic systems provided for in Regulation (EU) No 952/2013, future updates of the work programme should take place only if there are new developments. The provision requiring an update of the work programme every year should therefore be deleted.

It is also necessary to further specify certain elements of the reporting obligation, which was imposed on the Member States and on the Commission by the new Article 278a of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 in order to monitor the progress in developing the electronic systems. In accordance with paragraph 4 of this Article, Member States are to provide the Commission, twice per year, with an updated table on their own progress in developing and deploying the electronic systems. The table should contain the dates for completion of certain milestones and, in the event of delays or risks of delays, the mitigating actions as referred to in Article 278a(3). It is also necessary to specify the dates by which the Member States should send the information. This will allow the Commission to draft and submit its report on progress in developing the electronic systems to the European Parliament and to the Council at the end of each year. The Member States should also inform the Commission immediately of substantial changes in their IT planning. However, given the reporting obligation provided in Article 278a(4), it is no longer necessary to require the Member States to send information 6 months before the deployment of a new electronic system.

The work programme should list the electronic systems provided for in Regulation (EU) No 952/2013, the relevant Articles providing for those systems and the dates on which they are expected to become operational. The work programme should distinguish between the electronic systems that the Member States are to develop themselves (‘national systems’) and those that they are to develop in cooperation with the Commission (‘trans-European systems’). All these electronic systems are needed for Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 to be fully effective. The list should be based on the existing planning document covering all IT-related customs projects (the multi-annual strategic plan for customs, ‘MASP-C’^f5), which is being drawn up in accordance with Decision No 70/2008/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council^f6, and in particular Article 4 and Article 8(2) thereof. The electronic systems referred to in the work programme should be managed, prepared and developed as established in the MASP-C.

As the transitional period for the full application of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 should be finished at the latest by the dates referred to in Article 278 provided for in this Regulation, the work programme defines in more detail the actual dates of deployment of each of the electronic systems and as such sets the end period of the application of the specific transitional measures as provided by Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/341^f7.

Where the work programme allows the Member States to choose to deploy a trans-European or national electronic system within a given period (i.e. deployment window), the Annex should make it clear that the ‘start date of deployment’ is the earliest date on which Member States may start operating the new electronic system and the ‘end date of deployment’ is the last date by which all Member States and all economic operators are to start using the new or upgraded electronic system. The end date of deployment should also be the end of the period of the transitional measures related to that electronic system. Those dates should therefore be set on the basis of the deadlines provided in paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of Article 278 of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013. These deployment windows are necessary to implement the systems at Union level, taking into account the needs of each system. Different rules concerning deployment windows should apply to the customs project on pre-arrival security and safety (ICS2). In this case, all Member States should be ready to deploy each release of the project at the start date for the release, while economic operators should be given, with the agreement of the Member States, a possibility to connect within the deployment window.

The deployment windows for the migration of national electronic systems should be adapted to the national project and migration plans of Member States and should take into account their specific national IT environments and circumstances. The end dates of deployment of national electronic systems should also bring to an end the periods of the transitional measures related to those electronic systems. Those dates should therefore be set on the basis of the deadlines provided in paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of Article 278 of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013.

The Member States and the Commission should also ensure that the economic operators have received in a timely manner the technical information needed for them to update their own electronic systems and to connect to the new or upgraded electronic systems provided for in Regulation (EU) No 952/2013. Communication on the changes needed is to be provided between 12 and 24 months before deployment of a particular system, if necessary due to the scope and nature of that system. For minor changes, that period may be shorter.

The dates of deployment of certain projects need to be modified to ensure synchronicity between the work programme and the MASP-C, and to take into account the new deadlines provided in Article 278 of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013.

The measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Customs Code Committee,

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