Proposal for a REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL establishing, as part of the Integrated Border Management Fund, the instrument for financial support for customs control equipment

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

• Article 33 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), which calls for Union action with regard to customs cooperation and the EU customs union;

• Article 114 TFEU, which calls for Union action with regard to the internal market; and

• Article 207 TFEU, which calls for Union action with regard to common commercial policy.

The preferred option has therefore been direct management through the provision of grants to national authorities. The new EU intervention aims indeed at addressing current imbalances between Member States and ensuring equivalence in the performance of customs controls throughout the Customs Union. Such an objective requires obviously coordination beyond national borders, which a centralised approach through direct management is best placed to deliver. As the national authorities – and not the Union – should continue to own directly the equipment they use for carrying out their duties at EU borders, EU intervention would take the form of grants to Member States supporting the purchase, maintenance and evolution of customs control equipment in accordance with predefined standards per border type. Moreover, direct management is the delivery mechanism for existing actions in the customs field, whether under the Customs or Hercule III programmes. It is also an appropriate approach given that it will only involve a limited number of beneficiaries, i.e. the 27 Member States.

Although significant in absolute terms, this amount represents only a proportion of the estimated investment gap. According to information gathered from Member States in 2014-2015, the investment gap was indeed estimated to about EUR 2.3 billion over 5 years. However, the Union intervention should not necessarily cover the whole estimated investment gap as the level of Union intervention should be analysed in the broader context of customs duties as an own resource, of which Member States retain currently 20 % ¹¹ , representing an amount of EUR 4.7 billion in 2015, to cover their customs expenses and investments.

Also, the level of Union intervention should be assessed in proportion of the total Union external trade volume, which customs controls contribute to monitor but also facilitate. In implementing the Union commercial policy, customs handle an enormous volume of trade on a daily basis: the total statistical value of EU-28 trade flow was 3.46 trillion € in 2016 (1.75 trillion € for export and 1.71 trillion € for import) or 9.5 billion € a day. The proposed Union intervention would thus represent less than 0,01% of the external trade volume.

The instrument will be implemented in direct management mode and in a priority-based manner. Work programmes will be established – together with the stakeholders by means of assessments of needs – stipulating the priorities for a specific period.

The customs control equipment instrument will have an impact on the Union and Member States revenue. Although not quantifiable, it is expected to facilitate and streamline the work done by Customs authorities for the collection of customs duties, as well as of VAT and excise duties at import. By increasing the quality of controls, customs administrations will be more efficient in protecting the financial and economic interests of the Union and its Member States.

As a new field of EU intervention, it will be of utmost importance to ensure focus and delivery of the customs control equipment instrument. Also, policy choices will be needed before deploying completely the actions: whereas the ongoing Customs 2020 programme activity allowed taking stock of the situation at the EU external land borders and mapping it in terms of presence of customs officers and available equipment for all border crossing points concerned, only limited information is currently available for sea and air borders and for postal hubs.

Against this backdrop, a dedicated model tailored to the specific circumstances and needs of the instrument has been designed. It builds on the requirement of a central coordination – beyond national borders for delivering a level playing field – rooted deeply in national expertise and experience. Four building blocks corresponding to the four identified steps will help to deliver on the identified general and specific objectives:

Annex 6 to the Impact Assessment details each of these four building blocks. In a nutshell, the process will be as follows:

• The first step will consist in assessing the needs at each border type: land, sea, air, postal hubs. Concretely, it will replicate the successful CELBET ¹² – Central and South-Eastern Land Border Expert Team – experience that made an inventory of equipment at the EU land border by processing more than 9200 data fields from 172 border crossing points, identified the main characteristics of these border crossing points and proposed a typology of border crossing points (e.g. road vs rail border crossings, with truck traffic or only with non-commercial traffic), identified the proposed equipment standards for each category and concluded with a gap analysis between the inventory and defined standards allowed estimating the necessary funds.

• The second step will focus on programming with the work programme and corresponding grant agreements as key outputs. As one separate assessment will be available for each border type, the work will not be limited to checking eligibility but rather extend to organising the allocation of funds in line with customs priorities, threats and volumes. In addition, policy choices will be required at the time of adoption of the work programme.

• The third steps will be implementation: once the grant agreements will be signed, Member States will source equipment in line with the contractual conditions.

• The fourth and final step will consist in monitoring and control.

To ensure regular monitoring and reporting, the proposal puts in place a specific framework for monitoring the results achieved by the instrument and actions under it. Such monitoring and reporting will be based on indicators measuring the effects of the actions under the instrument against pre-defined baselines. Proportionate reporting requirements will include some minimal information on equipment beyond a certain threshold.

Moreover, an interim evaluation and a final evaluation will be carried-out by the Commission. These evaluations will be carried out in line with paragraphs 22 and 23 of the Interinstitutional Agreement of 13 April 2016 ¹³ , where the three institutions confirmed that evaluations of existing legislation and policy should provide the basis for impact assessments of options for further action. The evaluations will assess the instrument's effects on the ground based on indicators and targets and on a detailed analysis of the degree to which the instrument can be deemed relevant, effective, efficient, provides enough EU added value and is coherent with other EU policies. They will include lessons learnt to identify any lacks/problems or any potential to further improve the actions or their results and to help maximise their impact. They will also include identification and quantification of regulatory costs, benefits and savings.

This regulation establishes the Integrated Border Management Fund, jointly with Regulation (EU) [2018/XXX] establishing the instrument for financial support for border management and visa ¹⁴ . There are close links between the two instruments: the one covered by this proposal supports equipment aimed at the control of goods at Union borders whereas the purchase of equipment supported by the other instrument (that also supports other actions related to integrated border management) will focus exclusively on checks in the context of border management and visa. It is necessary to establish the Integrated Border Management Fund as a comprehensive financing framework comprising two sector-specific proposals due to the different Treaty bases to be used given the broad range of objectives to be covered.

The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated powers to:

• review the control purposes, i.e. the essential eligibility criteria as they may evolve significantly over time in view of customs priorities, threats and technology as well as

• amend Annex 2 to review or complement the indicators where considered necessary and to supplement this Regulation with provisions on the establishment of a monitoring and evaluation framework.

The committee will assist the Commission. In order to ensure the coherence and horizontal coordination of all customs actions under both this instrument and the Customs Programme, it is proposed that one single committee is established. As a committee already exists under the existing Customs 2020 programme and it is proposed to confirm it under the new Customs programme, it is proposed that this Customs Programme committee is also competent as regards this instrument.

Coherent, effective and proportionate targeted information to multiple audiences will be ensured, including the media and public.

REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL

establishing, as part of the Integrated Border Management Fund,
the instrument for financial support for customs control equipment

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Articles 33, 114 and 207 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,

After transmission of the draft legislative act to the national parliaments,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee ¹⁶ ,

Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure,

Whereas:

1. The 2 140 customs offices ¹⁷ that are present over the external borders of the European Union need to be properly equipped to ensure the operation of the customs union. The need for adequate and equivalent customs controls is ever more pressing not only by reason of the traditional function of customs to collect revenue but also increasingly by the necessity to significantly reinforce the control of goods entering and exiting Union’s external borders in order to ensure both safety and security. However, at the same time, those controls on the movement of goods across the external borders should not impair but rather facilitate legitimate trade with third countries.

2. There is currently an imbalance in the performance of customs control by Member States. This imbalance is due both to geographic differences between Member States and in their respective capacities and resources. The ability of Member States to react to challenges generated by the constantly evolving global business models and supply chains depend not only on the human component but also on the availability of modern and reliable customs control equipment. The provision of equivalent customs control equipment is therefore an important element in addressing the existing imbalance. It will improve equivalence in the performance of customs controls throughout Member States and thereby avoid the diversion of the flows of goods towards the weakest points.

3. Member States have repeatedly expressed the need for financial support and requested an in-depth analysis of the equipment needed. In its conclusions ¹⁸ on customs funding on 23 March 2017, the Council invited the Commission to "evaluate the possibility of funding technical equipment needs from future Commission financial programmes and improve coordination and (…) cooperation between Customs Authorities and other law enforcement authorities for funding purposes".

4. Under Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council ¹⁹ , customs controls are to be understood not only as the supervision of customs legislation but also other legislation governing the entry, exit, transit, movement, storage and end-use of goods moved between the customs territory of the Union and countries or territories outside that territory, and the presence and movement within the customs territory of the Union of non-Union goods and goods placed under the end-use procedure. Such other legislation empowering customs authorities with specific tasks of control includes provisions on taxation, in particular as regards excise duties and value added tax, on the external aspects of the internal market, on the common trade policy and other common Union policies having a bearing on trade, on the overall supply chain security and on the protection of the financial and economic interests of the Union and its Member States.

5. Supporting the creation of an adequate and equivalent level of customs controls at the Union’s external borders allows maximising the benefits of the customs union. A dedicated Union intervention for customs control equipment correcting current imbalances would moreover contribute to the overall cohesion between Member States. In view of the challenges facing the world, in particular the continued need to protect the financial and economic interests of the Union and its Member States while easing the flow of legitimate trade, the availability of modern and reliable control equipment at the external borders is indispensable.

6. It is therefore opportune to establish a new Instrument for financial support for customs control equipment.

7. As customs authorities of the Member States have been taking up an increasing number of responsibilities, which often extend to the field of security and take place at the external border, ensuring equivalence in carrying out border control and customs control at the external borders needs to be addressed by providing adequate Union financial support to the Member States. It is equally important to promote inter-agency cooperation at Union borders as regards controls of goods and controls of persons among the national authorities in each Member State that are responsible for border control or for other tasks carried out at the border.

8. It is therefore necessary to establish an Integrated Border Management Fund ('the Fund').

9. Due to the legal particularities applicable to Title V of the TFEU as well as the different applicable legal bases regarding the policies on external borders and on customs control, it is not legally possible to establish the Fund as a single instrument.

10. The Fund should therefore be established as a comprehensive framework for Union financial support in the field of border management comprising the Instrument for financial support for customs control equipment ('the Instrument') established by this Regulation as well as the instrument for financial support for border management and visa established by Regulation (EU) No …/… of the European Parliament and of the Council ²⁰ .

11. This Regulation lays down a financial envelope for the Instrument, which is to constitute the prime reference amount, within the meaning of point 17 of the Interinstitutional Agreement of 2 December 2013 between the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on budgetary discipline, on cooperation in budgetary matters and on sound financial management ²¹ , for the European Parliament and the Council during the annual budgetary procedure.

12. Regulation (EU, Euratom) [2018/XXX] of the European Parliament and of the Council ²² (the ‘Financial Regulation’) applies to this Instrument. It lays down rules on the implementation of the Union budget, including the rules on grants.

13. Regulation (EU) [2018/XXX] of the European Parliament and of the Council ²³ establishes the "Customs" programme for cooperation in the field of customs to support the customs union and customs authorities. In order to preserve the coherence and horizontal coordination of cooperation actions, it is appropriate to implement all of them under one single legal act and set of rules. Therefore, only the purchase, maintenance and upgrade of the eligible customs control equipment should be supported under this Instrument while the Customs programme for cooperation in the field of customs should support related actions, such as cooperation actions for the assessment of needs or training relating to the equipment concerned.

14. In addition, and where appropriate, the Instrument should also support the purchase or upgrade of customs control equipment for testing new pieces or new functionalities in operational conditions before Member States start large-scale purchases of such new equipment. Testing in operational conditions should follow up in particular on the outcomes of research of customs control equipment in the framework of Regulation (EU) [2018/XXX] ²⁴ .

15. Most customs control equipment may be equally or incidentally fit for controls of compliance with other legislation, such as provisions on border management, visa or police cooperation. The Integrated Border Management Fund has therefore been conceived as two complementary instruments with distinct but coherent scopes for the purchase of equipment. On the one hand, the instrument for border management and visa established by Regulation [2018/XXX] ²⁵ will exclude equipment that can be used for both border management and customs control. On the other hand, the instrument for financial support for customs control equipment established by this Regulation will not only support financially equipment with customs controls as the main purpose but will also allow its use as well for additional purposes such as border controls and security. This distribution of roles will foster inter-agency cooperation as a component of the European integrated border management approach, as referred to in Article 4(e) of Regulation (EU) 2016/1624 ²⁶ , thereby enabling customs and border authorities to work together and maximising the impact of the Union budget through co-sharing and inter-operability of control equipment.

16. By way of derogation from the Financial Regulation, funding of an action by several Union programmes or instruments should be possible in order to allow and support, where appropriate, cooperation and interoperability across domains. However, in such cases, the contributions may not cover the same costs in accordance with the principle of prohibition of double funding established by the Financial Regulation.

17. In view of the rapid evolution of customs priorities, threats and technologies, work programmes should not span over long periods of time. At the same time, the need to establish annual work programmes increases the administrative burden for both the Commission and Member States without it being necessary for the implementation of the Instrument. Against that backdrop, work programmes should in principle cover more than one budgetary year.

18. In order to ensure uniform conditions for the implementation of the work programme under this Regulation, implementing powers should be conferred on the Commission. Those powers should be exercised in accordance with Regulation (EU) 182/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council ²⁷ .

19. Although central implementation is indispensable in order to achieve the specific objective of ensuring equivalent customs controls, given the technical nature of this Instrument, preparatory work is required at technical level. Therefore, implementation should be supported by assessments of needs that are dependent on national expertise and experience through the involvement of customs administrations of the Member States. Those assessments of needs should be based on a clear methodology including a minimum number of steps ensuring the collection of the required information.

20. To ensure regular monitoring and reporting, a proper framework for monitoring the results achieved by the Instrument and actions under it should be put in place. Such monitoring and reporting should be based on indicators measuring the effects of the actions under the Instrument. Reporting requirements should include some information on customs control equipment beyond a certain cost threshold.

21. Pursuant to paragraph 22 and 23 of the Inter-institutional agreement for Better Law-Making of 13 April 2016 ²⁸ , there is a need to evaluate this Instrument on the basis of information collected through specific monitoring requirements, while avoiding overregulation and administrative burdens, in particular on Member States. These requirements, where appropriate, can include measurable indicators, as a basis for evaluating the effects of the Instrument on the ground.

22. In order to respond appropriately to evolving policy priorities, threats and technologies, the power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union should be delegated to the Commission in respect of amending the customs control purposes for actions eligible under the Instrument and the list of indicators to measure the achievement of the specific objectives. It is of particular importance that the Commission carries out appropriate consultations during its preparatory work, including at expert level, and that those consultations be conducted in accordance with the principles laid down in the Interinstitutional Agreement on Better Law-Making of 13 April 2016. In particular, to ensure equal participation in the preparation of delegated acts, the European Parliament and the Council receive all documents at the same time as Member States' experts, and their experts systematically have access to meetings of Commission expert groups dealing with the preparation of delegated acts.

23. In accordance with the Financial Regulation, Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 883/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council ²⁹ , Council Regulation (Euratom, EC) No2988/95 ³⁰ , Council Regulation (Euratom, EC) No 2185/96 ³¹ and Regulation (EU) 2017/1939 ³² , the financial interests of the Union are to be protected through proportionate measures, including the prevention, detection, correction and investigation of irregularities and fraud, the recovery of funds lost, wrongly paid or incorrectly used and, where appropriate, the imposition of administrative sanctions. In particular, in accordance with Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 883/2013 and Regulation (Euratom, EC) No 2185/96, the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) may carry out administrative investigations, including on-the-spot checks and inspections, with a view to establishing whether there has been fraud, corruption or any other criminal offences affecting the financial interests of the Union. In accordance with Regulation (EU) 2017/1939, the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) may investigate and prosecute fraud and other illegal activities affecting the financial interests of the Union as provided for in Directive (EU) 2017/1371 of the European Parliament and of the Council ³³ . In accordance with the Financial Regulation, any person or entity receiving Union funds is to fully cooperate in the protection of the Union’s financial interests, to grant the necessary rights and access to the Commission, OLAF, the EPPO and the European Court of Auditors and to ensure that any third parties involved in the implementation of Union funds grant equivalent rights.

24. Horizontal financial rules adopted by the European Parliament and the Council on the basis of Article 322 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union apply to this Regulation. These rules are laid down in the Financial Regulation and determine in particular the procedure for establishing and implementing the budget through grants, procurement, prizes, indirect implementation, and provide for checks on the responsibility of financial actors. Rules adopted on the basis of Article 322 TFEU also concern the protection of the Union's budget in case of generalised deficiencies as regards the rule of law in the Member States, as the respect for the rule of law is an essential precondition for sound financial management and effective EU funding.

25. The types of financing and the methods of implementation under this Regulation should be chosen on the basis of their ability to achieve the specific objective of the actions and to deliver results, taking into account, in particular, the costs of controls, the administrative burden, and the expected risk of non-compliance. This should include consideration of the use of lump sums, flat rates and unit costs, as well as financing not linked to costs as referred to in Article 125(1) of the Financial Regulation.

26. Since the objective of this Regulation, which is to establish a Instrument that supports the customs union and customs authorities, cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States alone further to objective imbalances existing at geographical level amongst them, but can rather, by reason of the equivalent level and quality of custom control that a coordinated approach and a centralised funding will help providing, be better achieved at Union level, the Union may adopt measures, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty on European Union. In accordance with the principle of proportionality as set out in that Article, this Regulation does not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve that objective,

HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

CHAPTER I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1

Subject matter

1. This Regulation establishes the Instrument for financial support for customs control equipment ('the Instrument'), as part of the Integrated Border Management Fund ('the Fund') to provide financial support for the purchase, maintenance and upgrade of customs control equipment.

2. Jointly with Regulation [2018/XXX] establishing, as part of the Integrated Border Management Fund, the instrument for financial support for border management and visa ³⁴ , this Regulation establishes the Fund.

3. It lays down the objectives of the Instrument, the budget for the period 2021 – 2027, the forms of Union funding and the rules for providing such funding.

Article 2

Definitions

For the purposes of this Regulation, the following definitions shall apply:

1. 'customs authorities' means the authorities defined in point (1) of Article 5 of Regulation (EU) 952/2013;

2. 'customs controls' means the specific acts defined in point (3) of Article 5 of Regulation (EU) 952/2013;

3. 'customs control equipment' means equipment intended primarily for performing customs controls;

4. 'mobile customs control equipment' means any means of transport that, beyond its mobile capacities, is intended itself to be a piece of customs control equipment or is fully equipped with customs control equipment;

5. 'maintenance' means preventive, corrective and predictive interventions, including operational and functional checks, servicing, repair and overhaul but excluding upgrading, necessary for retaining or restoring a piece of customs control equipment to its specified operable condition to achieve its maximum useful life;

6. 'upgrade' means evolutive interventions necessary for bringing an existing piece of customs control equipment from an outdated to a state-of-the-art specified operable condition.

Article 3

Instrument objectives

1. As part of the Integrated Border Management Fund, the Instrument has the general objective 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 within the Union and to protect the Union from unfair and illegal trade while facilitating legitimate business activity.

2. The Instrument has the specific objective of contributing to adequate and equivalent customs controls through the purchase, maintenance and upgrade of relevant, state-of-the-art and reliable customs control equipment.

Article 4

Budget

1. The financial envelope for the implementation of the Instrument for the period 2021 – 2027 shall be EUR 1 300 000 000 in current prices.

2. The amount referred to in paragraph 1 may also cover expenses for preparation, monitoring, control, audit, evaluation and other activities for managing the Instrument and evaluating the achievement of its objectives. It may moreover cover expenses relating to the studies, meetings of experts, information and communication actions, in so far as they are related to the objectives of the Instrument, as well as expenses linked to information technology networks focusing on information processing and exchange, including corporate information technology tools and other technical and administrative assistance needed in connection with the management of the Instrument.

Article 5

Implementation and forms of EU funding

1. The Instrument shall be implemented in direct management in accordance with the Financial Regulation.

2. The Instrument may provide funding in any of the forms laid down in the Financial Regulation and in particular by means of grants.

3. When the action supported involves the purchase or upgrade of equipment, the Commission shall set up a coordination mechanism ensuring efficiency and interoperability between all the equipment purchased with the support of Union programmes and instruments.

CHAPTER II

ELIGIBILITY

Article 6

Eligible actions

1. In order for actions to be eligible for funding under this Instrument, the actions must comply with the following requirements:

   1. implement the objectives referred to in Article 3;

   2. support the purchase, maintenance and upgrade of customs controls equipment that has one or more of the following customs control purposes:

      1. non-intrusive inspection;

      2. indication of hidden objects on humans;

      3. radiation detection and nuclide identification;

      4. analysis of samples in laboratories;

      5. sampling and field analysis of samples;

      6. handheld search.

Annex 1 lays down an indicative list of customs control equipment that may be used to achieve the customs control purposes referred to in points (1) to (6).

2. By way of derogation from paragraph 1, in duly justified cases, the actions may also cover the purchase, maintenance and upgrade of customs controls equipment for testing new pieces or new functionalities in operational conditions.

3. The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 14 to amend the customs control purposes set out in point (b) of paragraph 1 as well as Annex 1 where such review is considered necessary.

4. Customs control equipment financed under this Instrument may be used for purposes additional to customs controls, including for control of persons in support of the national border management authorities and investigation.

Article 7

Eligible entities

By way of derogation from Article 197 of the Financial Regulation, the eligible entities shall be the customs authorities of Member States where they provide the information necessary for the assessments of needs as set out in Article 11(3).

Article 8

Co-financing rate

1. The Instrument may finance up to 80% of the total eligible costs of an action.

2. Any funding in excess of that ceiling shall only be granted in duly justified exceptional circumstances.

Article 9

Eligible costs

The following costs shall not be eligible for funding under the Instrument:

1. costs related to the purchase of land;

2. costs relating to infrastructure, such as buildings or outdoor facilities, as well as to furniture;

3. costs associated with electronic systems, with the exception of software directly necessary to use the customs control equipment;

4. costs of networks, such as secured or unsecured communication channels, or subscriptions;

5. costs of transport means, such as vehicles, aircrafts or ships, with the exception of mobile customs control equipment;

6. costs of consumables, including reference or calibration material, for customs control equipment;

7. costs relating to personal protective equipment.

CHAPTER III

GRANTS

Article 10

Award, complementarity and combined funding

1. Grants under the Instrument shall be awarded and managed in accordance with Title VIII of the Financial Regulation.

2. In accordance with Article 195(f) of the Financial Regulation, grants shall be awarded without a call for proposals to the eligible entities referred to in Article 7.

3. By way of derogation from Article 191 of the Financial Regulation, an action that has received a contribution from the Customs programme for cooperation in the field of customs established by Regulation (EU) [2018/XXX] ³⁵ or from any other Union programme may also receive a contribution under the Instrument, provided that the contributions do not cover the same costs. The rules of each contributing Union programme shall apply to its respective contribution to the action. The cumulative funding shall not exceed the total eligible costs of the action and the support from the different Union programmes may be calculated on a pro-rata basis in accordance with the documents setting out the conditions for support.

CHAPTER IV

PROGRAMMING, MONITORING AND EVALUATION

Article 11

Work programme

1. The Instrument shall be implemented by work programmes referred to in Article 110(2) of the Financial Regulation.

2. The work programmes shall be adopted by the Commission by means of an implementing act. That implementing act shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 15.

3. The preparation of the work programmes referred to in paragraph 1 shall be supported by an assessment of needs, which shall consist of the following at a minimum:

   1. a common categorisation of border crossing points;

   2. an exhaustive inventory of available customs control equipment;

   3. a common definition of a minimum and an optimal standard of customs control equipment by reference to the category of border crossing points and

   4. a detailed estimate of financial needs.

The assessment of needs shall result from actions carried out under the Customs 2020 programme established by Regulation (EU) No 1294/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council ³⁶ or under the Customs programme for cooperation in the field of customs established by Regulation (EU) [2018/XXX] ³⁷  and shall be updated regularly and at a minimum every 3 years.

Article 12

Monitoring and reporting

1. Indicators to report on progress of the Instrument towards the achievement of the general and specific objectives set out in Article 3 are set out in Annex 2.

2. To ensure effective assessment of progress of the Instrument towards the achievement of its objectives, the Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 14 to amend Annex 2 to review or complement the indicators where considered necessary and to supplement this Regulation with provisions on the establishment of a monitoring and evaluation framework.

3. The performance reporting system shall ensure that data for monitoring the implementation and results of the Instrument are collected efficiently, effectively, and in a timely manner. To that end, proportionate reporting requirements shall be imposed on recipients of Union funds.

4. The reporting requirements referred to in paragraph 3 shall include at least the annual communication to the Commission of the following information where the cost of a piece of customs control equipment exceeds EUR 10 000 exclusive of taxes:

1. commissioning and decommissioning dates of the customs control equipment;

2. statistics on the use of the customs control equipment;

3. information on results from the use of the customs control equipment.

Article 13

Evaluation

1. Evaluations shall be carried out in a timely manner to feed into the decision-making process.

2. The interim evaluation of the Instrument shall be performed once there is sufficient information available about the implementation of the Instrument, but no later than four years after the start of the implementation of the Instrument.

3. At the end of the implementation of the Instrument, but no later than four years after the end of the period specified in Article 1, a final evaluation of the Instrument shall be carried out by the Commission.

4. The Commission shall communicate the conclusions of the evaluations, accompanied by its observations, to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions.

CHAPTER V

EXERCISE OF THE DELEGATION AND COMMITTEE PROCEDURE

Article 14

Exercise of the delegation

1. The power to adopt delegated acts is conferred on the Commission subject to the conditions laid down in this Article.

2. The power to adopt delegated acts referred to in Articles 6(3) and 12(2) shall be conferred on the Commission until 31 December 2028.

3. The delegation of power referred to in Articles 6(3) and 12(2) may be revoked at any time by the European Parliament or by the Council. A decision to revoke shall put an end to the delegation of power specified in that decision. It shall take effect the day following the publication of the decision in the Official Journal of the European Union or at a later date specified therein. It shall not affect the validity of any delegated acts already in force.

4. Before adopting a delegated act, the Commission shall consult experts designated by each Member State in accordance with the principles laid down in the Interinstitutional Agreement on Better Law-Making of 13 April 2016.

5. As soon as it adopts a delegated act, the Commission shall notify it simultaneously to the European Parliament and to the Council.

6. A delegated act adopted pursuant to Articles 6(3) and 12(2) shall enter into force if no objection has been expressed either by the European Parliament or by the Council within a period of two months of notification of that act to the European Parliament and the Council or if, before the expiry of that period, the European Parliament and the Council have both informed the Commission that they will not object. That period shall be extended by two months at the initiative of the European Parliament or of the Council.

Article 15

Committee procedure

1. The Commission shall be assisted by the “Customs Programme Committee” referred to in Article 18 of Regulation (EU) [2018/XXX] ³⁸ .

2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Article 5 of Regulation (EU) 182/2011 shall apply.

CHAPTER VI

TRANSITIONAL AND FINAL PROVISIONS

Article 16

Information, communication and publicity

1. The recipients of Union funding shall acknowledge the origin and ensure the visibility of the Union funding (in particular when promoting the actions and their results) by providing coherent, effective and proportionate targeted information to multiple audiences, including the media and the public.

2. The Commission shall implement information and communication actions relating to the Instrument, and its actions and results. Financial resources allocated to the Instrument shall also contribute to the corporate communication of the political priorities of the Union, as far as they are related to the objectives referred to in Article 3.

Article 17

Transitional provisions

If necessary, appropriations may be entered in the budget beyond 2027 to cover the expenses provided for in Article 4(2), to enable the management of actions not completed by 31 December 2027.

Article 18

Entry into force

This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels,

LEGISLATIVE FINANCIAL STATEMENT

LEGISLATIVE FINANCIAL STATEMENT

X a new action 

◻ a new action following a pilot project/preparatory action ³⁹  

◻ the extension of an existing action 

◻ a merger or redirection of one or more actions towards another/a new action 

X limited duration

• X    in effect from 01.01.2021 to 31.12.2027

• X    Financial impact from 2021 to 2027 for commitment appropriations and from 2021 to 2030 for payment appropriations.

◻ unlimited duration

• Implementation with a start-up period from YYYY to YYYY,

• followed by full-scale operation.

X Direct management by the Commission

• X by its departments, including by its staff in the Union delegations;

• ◻    by the executive agencies

◻ Shared management with the Member States

◻ Indirect management by entrusting budget implementation tasks to:

• ◻ third countries or the bodies they have designated;

• ◻ international organisations and their agencies (to be specified);

• ◻the EIB and the European Investment Fund;

• ◻ bodies referred to in Articles 70 and 71 of the Financial Regulation;

• ◻ public law bodies;

• ◻ bodies governed by private law with a public service mission to the extent that they provide adequate financial guarantees;

• ◻ bodies governed by the private law of a Member State that are entrusted with the implementation of a public-private partnership and that provide adequate financial guarantees;

• ◻ persons entrusted with the implementation of specific actions in the CFSP pursuant to Title V of the TEU, and identified in the relevant basic act.

• If more than one management mode is indicated, please provide details in the ‘Comments’ section.

Comments

Specify frequency and conditions.

Specify existing or envisaged prevention and protection measures, e.g. from the Anti-Fraud Strategy.

EUR million (to three decimal places)

EUR million (to three decimal places)

EUR million (to three decimal places)

• ◻    The proposal/initiative does not require the use of appropriations of an administrative nature

• X    The proposal/initiative requires the use of appropriations of an administrative nature, as explained below:

EUR million (to three decimal places)

The appropriations required for human resources and other expenditure of an administrative nature will be met by appropriations from the DG that are already assigned to management of the action and/or have been redeployed within the DG, together if necessary with any additional allocation which may be granted to the managing DG under the annual allocation procedure and in the light of budgetary constraints.

• ◻    The proposal/initiative does not require the use of human resources.

• X    The proposal/initiative requires the use of human resources, as explained below:

Estimate to be expressed in full time equivalent units

The human resources required will be met by staff from the DG who are already assigned to management of the action and/or have been redeployed within the DG, together if necessary with any additional allocation which may be granted to the managing DG under the annual allocation procedure and in the light of budgetary constraints.

Description of tasks to be carried out:

The proposal/initiative:

• X    does not provide for co-financing by third parties

• ◻    provides for the co-financing by third parties estimated below:

Appropriations in EUR million (to three decimal places)

• ◻    The proposal/initiative has no financial impact on revenue.

• X    The proposal/initiative has the following financial impact:

  • X        on own resources

  • ◻    on other revenue

please indicate, if the revenue is assigned to expenditure lines ◻    

EUR million (to three decimal places)

For assigned revenue, specify the budget expenditure line(s) affected.

Other remarks (e.g. method/formula used for calculating the impact on revenue or any other information).

ANNEX 1

Indicative list of customs control equipment in relation to customs control purpose
referred to in Article 6(1)(b)

ANNEX 2

Indicators

Specific objective: Contribute to equivalent and adequate customs controls through the purchase, maintenance and upgrade of relevant, state-of-the-art and reliable customs control equipment

1. Equipment available

   1. Availability at land Border Crossing Points of customs control equipment meeting agreed standards (by type of equipment)

   2. Availability at sea Border Crossing Points of customs control equipment meeting agreed standards (by type of equipment)

   3. Availability at air Border Crossing Points of customs control equipment meeting agreed standards (by type of equipment

   4. Availability at postal Border Crossing Points of customs control equipment meeting agreed standards (by type of equipment)

   5. Availability at rail Border Crossing Points of customs control equipment meeting agreed standards (by type of equipment)