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N° 66 October 2018
Publications Office newsletter
ISSN 2315‑0017
Spotlight on the EU Customs Union Established in 1968 as a founding component of the European Economic Community (succeeded by the European Union), the Customs Union celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. Nowadays, its benefits are taken for granted; few travellers can remember the physical controls of luggage and goods at the borders that took hours and few entrepreneurs can remember the cumbersome customs procedures to import or export goods from one European country to another. The Customs Union was a crucial step towards European integration and the creation of a single market; it created a free‑trade area where goods circulate freely, without customs duties at the borders between EU countries. It also created a single territory for customs purposes. This means that there is a common policy of external tariff on all goods entering the Union, replacing tonnes of red tape and significantly reducing the administrative burden, not only for each single Member State, but also for the trading partners of the EU. Importantly, among several other significant benefits, the Customs Union has been collectively protecting the safety and security of citizens of its Member States. Find out more in this month’s newsletter along with some of the most interesting EU publications on several other topics, including research. PDF/PAPER
Customs factsheet The EU Customs Union means that goods imported into the EU circulate freely and that they are safe for people, for animals and for the environment. A customs union also means that the countries involved apply the same tariffs to goods imported into their territory from the rest of the world. This factsheet offers a quick glimpse into the EU Customs Union.
Available in all the official languages of the EU PDF/PAPER
Customs The EU Customs facilitating trade
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Customs is holding the front line against dangerous goods, illegal trafficking, fraud, terrorism and organised crime while making legitimate trade as easy as possible. Part of the series The European Union explained, this publication presents in detail the benefits of the EU Customs Union.