The European Court of Auditors (ECA) will publish a special report on EU customs on Tuesday 30 March 2021 at 17h00 in 23 EU languages.
ABOUT THE AUDIT
Customs duties make up 13 % of the EU budget revenue. Their evasion increases the customs gap and must be compensated for by higher contributions from Member States, so the cost is ultimately borne by European taxpayers.
The auditors examined whether the European Commission and the Member States had designed robust and uniform controls on imports. They will show how differing approaches to customs controls affect EU revenue.
ABOUT THE TOPIC
Goods entering EU Member States from outside the European Union are subject to customs controls before they are released for free circulation within the EU. The EU has exclusive competence to make laws in the area of customs, while Member States are responsible for putting them into practice. In 2019, the Member States made available €21.4 billion of customs duties to the EU budget. China, the USA and Russia were the main countries exporting to the EU. Furniture, sports equipment, toys and clothing topped the list of most imported goods.
The ECA’s special reports set out the results of its audits of EU policies and programmes or management topics related to specific budgetary areas. The ECA selects and designs these audit tasks to be of maximum impact by considering the risks to performance or compliance, the level of income or spending involved, forthcoming developments and political and public interest.