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The European Parliament and the Council welcome the European Court of Auditors' Special Report No 26/2018 entitled ‘A series of delays in Customs IT systems: what went wrong?’ and other recent relevant reports in the area of customs, which have given the co-legislators a better overview of the causes for the delays in the implementation of the IT systems necessary for improving customs operations in the EU.

The European Parliament and the Council consider that any future audit by the European Court of Auditors assessing the reports prepared by the Commission on the basis of Article 278a of the Union Customs Code could positively contribute to the avoidance of further delays.

The European Parliament and the Council call on the Commission and the Member States to take full account of such audits.