On 27 June 2025, the Council of the European Union adopted its negotiating mandate to update the EU Customs Code — a key step in the ongoing effort to modernise the Customs Union.
This reform builds on the European Commission’s original proposal from 17 May 2023.
Member States have agreed on several key elements:
- A new “Trust and Check” operator status will be introduced. The most transparent businesses — those providing detailed information on their operations — will benefit from enhanced privileges already available to Authorised Economic Operators (AEOs). These include real-time Customs clearance and reduced checks for operators with traceable, secure supply chains ;
- Creation of a European Customs Authority (EUCA): This new body will oversee Customs governance across the EU and will manage the future EU Customs Data Hub, a single platform handling Customs data from all 27 Member States. The goal is to simplify procedures and cut national operating costs by an estimated €2 billion per year ;
- Changes for ecommerce : the €150 exemption threshold for Customs duties will be removed, and new processing fees will be introduced. These measures aim to ensure all imported goods are properly declared and to prevent undervaluation in cross-border ecommerce.
These reforms are still at the proposal stage and will be discussed by the European Parliament in the coming months.
Stay tuned — more updates to follow!
