The Council and the European Parliament have reached an agreement this week to transform the customs framework of the European Union with a reform that the community institutions describe as the most ambitious since the creation of the customs union in 1968. The new legislation establishes instruments to streamline global trade, optimize tariff collection, and tighten controls on hazardous products or those that do not meet the standards.
The agreed changes introduce new measures for e-commerce and launch a data-driven customs architecture aimed at simplifying procedures and improving efficiency. In the view of the European Commission college, with these improvements the European customs will be equipped to adapt to the changing landscape of international trade.
"Today's agreement represents the largest reform since the establishment of the Customs Union in 1968," stated Makis Keravnos, Minister of Finance of the Republic of Cyprus. "This modern customs code will allow us to manage geopolitical challenges while ensuring economic security and simplifying trade with total legal certainty," he added.
The customs reform of the European Union is structured around four fundamental pillars. The first is the EU Customs Data Center, a centralized platform for importers and exporters to interact with the Union, improving data traceability and integrity. The second pillar is the 'Trust and Check' operator figure, which provides advanced administrative simplifications for the most transparent and reliable companies. The third is the rate for small packages, which involves the introduction of a management fee at the community level for items coming from distance sales. The fourth pillar is the creation of the European Union Customs Authority.
At the heart of the reform is the new EU Customs Authority, whose headquarters will be located in the French city of Lille. This institution will coordinate and modernize customs operations in the 27 Member States and is expected to have a staff of about 250 people. The agency will facilitate information exchange and risk management at the Union level, thus improving the harmonized application of community legislation regarding customs and the detection and prevention of customs fraud.
In October 2025, the European Commission launched a call for proposals for Member States to express their interest in hosting the headquarters of the Customs Authority. Nine countries submitted their candidacy: Belgium (Liège), Croatia (Zagreb), Spain (Málaga), France (Lille), Italy (Rome), Netherlands (The Hague), Poland (Warsaw), Portugal (Porto), and Romania (Bucharest).
The EU Customs Authority will manage the EU Customs Data Center, with a unique digital interface for all customs operations that will allow companies to submit data only once, eliminating the need for traders to navigate through multiple national systems. This system will be operational for e-commerce by July 1, 2028, and will extend to all goods movements by March 2034.
The reform introduces several specific measures to address the rapid growth of e-commerce. The regulation clarifies that digital platforms and distance vendors will be the legal responsible parties for ensuring that customs formalities and payments are met, relieving the final consumer of this burden. Additionally, a management fee will be implemented for small shipments, the amount of which will be determined by the Commission and which Member States will apply by November 1, 2026 at the latest.
The amount of this fee will be based on the minimum costs faced by customs authorities in processing goods, arising from the IT and labor resources mobilized to clear those goods for free circulation, including the verification of provided data, conducting risk analyses, and carrying out document and physical controls when necessary. Those operators who systematically fail to meet their obligations will face a new regime of financial penalties.
Platforms and e-commerce operators will report their sales to customs through the EU Customs Data Center immediately after they occur, allowing customs to react even before the goods arrive at the border.
The Commission estimates that the EU Customs Authority will start functioning in 2027, while the EU Customs Data Center will be launched in 2028 and will be opened to all businesses in 2031. Subsequently, in 2034, the Data Center will be expanded to all traders and will become the only mandatory customs entry point for the EU.
The EU Customs Union currently manages trade valued at over 4.3 trillion euros, representing 14% of world trade. In 2024 alone, European customs collected nearly 27 billion euros in tariffs and detected over 112 million counterfeit items.
Following this political agreement, the Council and the Parliament will finalize the technical aspects before its formal adoption. The Regulation with the reform of the EU customs union will come into force twenty days after its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.