Answer given by Mr Gentiloni on behalf of the European Commission
8.7.2021
The purpose of the Commission’s Decision on Financial Risk Criteria (FRC Decision)[1] is to ensure that the highest financial risks, causing major harm to the EU and Member States budget, are addressed in the same way at any point of the EU border. The Commission is currently carrying out an analysis of the implementation of the FRC Decision in the Member States, which will be completed by the end of 2021. Weaknesses identified will be addressed in the legal framework and the guidance. The Commission intends to make proposals to reinforce the legal framework for financial risks by the end of 2022.
One of the actions which have been announced in the 2020 Customs Action Plan ‘Taking the Customs Union to the Next Level’[2] is the launching of an EU ‘Joint Analytics Capabilities’ initiative in close cooperation with the Member States, for facilitating the collection, analysing and sharing key customs data. The Commission is currently working on developing further data analysis and related IT tools that will conduct EU-level analysis on all types of imports, in order to detect risky trade flows in a performant manner. The findings will be made available to Member States to assist them in their work.