Which objective(s) does the Commission pursue?

This instrument forms part of the Integrated Border Management Fund, jointly with the instrument for financial support for border management and visa.

The Customs Control Equipment Instrument (CCEI) supports the purchase, maintenance and upgrade of equipment aimed at the control of goods at the EU’s external borders. It is necessary to establish the Integrated Border Management Fund as a comprehensive financial framework comprising two sector-specific proposals having different but very closely linked objectives, i.e. improving the controls of goods and of persons at the EU’s external borders.

The CCEI aims to support the Customs Union and customs authorities to protect the financial and economic interests of the Union and its Member States, to ensure security and safety and to protect the Union from unfair and illegal trade while facilitating legitimate business activity. Concretely, the instrument will contribute to adequate and equivalent customs controls through the purchase, maintenance and upgrade of relevant, state-of-the-art and reliable customs control equipment.

Estimated savings and benefits

As a new component under the Integrated Border Management (IBM) Fund, it cannot benefit directly from lessons learnt from evaluations of previous experiences.

However, in the context of the study on the post-2020 Customs programme, the needs and challenges as regards customs control equipment were examined and the analysis confirmed the long-term need for Union action. Indeed, the ever-growing volumes of goods together with the increasing need for their efficient and swift controls are underpinned not only by the traditional function of customs to collect revenue but also by the necessity to extensively reinforce these controls to ensure safety and security while facilitating legitimate trade. Customs control equipment is an essential element for fulfilling these objectives and there is accordingly an urgent need to provide for a dedicated EU instrument aimed at addressing current imbalances and thereby ensuring a uniform application of customs rules at the EU’s external borders. The funding of such equipment thus represents a clear EU added value, which was confirmed in the impact assessment¹ carried out collectively for all proposed financial instruments under the Migration heading.

The instrument is designed in a very simple manner with an initial assessment of needs followed by an adoption of a work programme to be implemented through direct management via grants. It is foreseen to apply several simplifications as provided for by the Financial Regulation, in particular the exceptions to calls for proposals. The coherence and complementarity of the CCEI with other funds is also ensured in the proposal, in particular the Customs programme, the Anti-Fraud programme and the Border Management and Visa instrument as the other component under the IBM Fund.

As the CCEI is a new initiative, a quantified estimation of savings and benefits cannot be done. However, establishing this instrument aims to address a long-standing political issue whithin the Customs Union. The Member States have repeatedly expressed their need for financial support for customs control equipment.

In the absence of such dedicated programme, the EU has so far supported the Member States by redirecting them to other EU funding options, in particular the Structural and Investment Funds, the Anti-fraud programme, the EU funds supporting the management of external borders, the EU neighbourhood instrument. However, these solutions have proven not to be satisfactory as they did not allow for the particular needs of the customs authorities to be sufficiently addressed.

¹ SWD(2018) 347 final