The Council today agreed on a partial negotiating mandate on a fundamental reform of the EU customs framework. The overhaul will give customs authorities across the EU a more modern toolbox to deal with trends such as huge increases in trade volumes, especially in e-commerce, a fast-growing number of EU standards that must be checked at the border and shifting geopolitical realities and crises.
The EU is planning a comprehensive reform of its customs legislation that will fundamentally change the way goods are imported and exported in the single market. The necessary steps were initiated in 2023. One of the most important changes is the replacement of the current status of Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) with the new designation of Trust & Check Trader (T&C Trader).
In its judgement of 16 January 2019, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) held that the information required by the customs authorities from legal persons applying for authorised economic status (AEO) under the Union Customs Code - in particular the tax identification numbers and the name of the responsible tax offices of certain employees of the applicant – was lawful within the ambit of Directive 95/46/EC and Regulation (EU) 2016/679 governing the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data.
