EU TFEU: Customs cooperation

EU customs cooperation plays a key role in the fight against fraud and organised crime. We look at the current provision on customs cooperation and what the Lisbon Treaty brings to these activities within the European Union.

***

The Treaty of Lisbon (ToL) moves the provision on Customs cooperation of the Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC) into the vicinity of the provisions of Chapter 1 The customs union in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU)(OJ 17.12.2007 C 306/52):

45) A Chapter Ia entitled ‘CUSTOMS COOPERATION’ shall be inserted after Article 27, and an Article 27a shall be inserted with the wording of Article 135, the last sentence of that Article being deleted.

***

The current Article 135 TEC is found in the latest consolidated version of the treaties, OJ 29.12.2006 C 321 E/106:

TITLE X
CUSTOMS COOPERATION

Article 135 TEC

Within the scope of application of this Treaty, the Council, acting in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 251, shall take measures in order to strengthen customs cooperation between Member States and between the latter and the Commission. These measures shall not concern the application of national criminal law or the national administration of justice.

***

The Lisbon Treaty is like Ikea furniture: It is handy to store and to transport, but some effort is needed before it serves its purpose. We are now ready to start the construction phase. We follow the express instructions, apply the horizontal amendments as needed, in this case 2(b) and 2(c), and take note of the renumbering to take place. The end result should show what was willed by the intergovernmental conference (IGC 2007):

Part Three Policies and internal actions of the Union

Title I The internal market

Chapter 1a Customs cooperation TFEU (ToL) (to be renumbered Chapter 2 TFEU)

Article 27a TFEU (ToL), after renumbering Article 33 TFEU

Within the scope of application of the Treaties, the European Parliament and the Council, acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure, shall take measures in order to strengthen customs cooperation between Member States and between the latter and the Commission.

***

We then look at the intermediate stages of the treaty reform process. First, the European Convention proposed the following Article III-41 of the draft Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe (OJ 18.7.2003 C 169/34):

Subsection 2
Customs cooperation

Article III-41 Draft Constitution

Within the scope of application of the Constitution, European laws or framework laws shall establish measures in order to strengthen customs cooperation between Member States and between the latter and the Commission.

***

The IGC was content to replace ‘the latter’ by ‘them’ in the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe, where the corresponding provision was Article III-152, under Section 3 Free movement of goods, Subsection 2 Customs cooperation (OJ 16.12.2004 C 310/65).

***

The legislative procedure has undergone some name changes along the way. The present co-decision procedure (officially ‘the procedure referred to in Article 251’), became ‘European laws or framework laws’ in the draft Constitution and the Constitution, but after the constitutional concept was jettisoned the IGC hauled in ‘the ordinary legislative procedure’ of the Lisbon Treaty. Substantially there is no difference.

Materially the draft Constitution entailed one amendment of note. Deleting the sentence ‘These measures shall not concern the application of national criminal law or the national administration of justice’ removes a restriction of the scope of allowed legislation.

Enabling measures concerning national criminal law and administration of criminal justice has the potential to counter for instance product and trademark piracy, drugs and arms trafficking, trafficking in human beings and other cross-border crime more effectively than at present, as well as enforce the financial interests of the EU.

Detailed provisions are found in Title IV (ToL, renumbered V TFEU) Area of freedom, security and justice, especially Chapter 4 Judicial cooperation in criminal matters.

These extended powers should be welcomed by legally operating businesses and EU citizens in general. They are less welcome for shady third country operators and criminal organisations and, perhaps, for member states that possibly will the ends, but not the means of joint crime prevention and enforcement. (Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom have secured opt-outs from the area of freedom, security and justice.)

***

The Commission’s pages on Justice and Home Affairs, Freedom, Security and Justice, Customs cooperation, offer a starting point for further reading ‘Customs authorities at the heart of the fight against cross-border crime in the EU’:

http://ec.europa.eu/justice_home/fsj/customs/fsj_customs_intro_en.htm

There are further web pages on the Information system, the Investigation database and on Mutual assistance, but these undated entries seem to be in need of an update (or the willingness of member states to ratify conventions).

The European Parliament offers and introduction to Customs cooperation with more exact references and links (last update 16 December 2005, so still leaves a gap of more than two years) at:

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/comparl/libe/elsj/zoom_in/21_en.htm

The General Report on the Activities of the European Union 2007 (page 167) adds the following titbits to our knowledge about customs cooperation:

“In 2007 work continued within the various institutions on laying down the modernised Community Customs Code (5) and establishing e-customs, which aims to replace all customs procedures with interconnected national computerised procedures.

In the field of international relations, on 11 April the Commission proposed the conclusion of an agreement on customs cooperation and mutual administrative assistance in customs matters between the European Community and the government of Japan.”

In addition to ‘hard law’ measures ‘soft law’ means to improve customs cooperation should be remembered. Yesterday’s article EU TFEU: Customs union aims’ mentioned Decision No 624/2007/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 May 2007 establishing an action programme for customs in the Community (Customs 2013) (OJ 14.6.2007 L 154/25), which presents how the strategic goals of the European Community are pursued at the operational level of customs administrations through an action programme from the beginning of 2008 until the end of 2013 (in line with the current multiannual financial framework).

The Customs 2013 Programme consists of the following activities, according to Article 1(2):

(a) communication and information-exchange systems;
(b) benchmarking;
(c) seminars and workshops;
(d) project groups and steering groups;
(e) working visits;
(f) training activities;
(g) monitoring actions;
(h) any other activities required for the realisation of the objectives of the programme.



Ralf Grahn