CUSTOMS UNION : COUNCIL MULLS OVER E-CUSTOMS PLANS.

At the EU Competitiveness Council, ministers gave a clear message to the European Commission that more fine-tuning is needed on proposals to modernise the EU's customs system. The most contentious points proved to be those elements in the Commission's proposals dealing with liberalising customs representation and touching upon the repartition of customs revenues and burdens.

The debate in the Council on 4 December follows approval by the European Parliament's Internal Market Committee, on 22 November, of three co-decision reports on EU customs, now in first reading. All three reports will be the subject of a joint debate in Strasbourg on 11 December.

Also controversial is investment in a paperless customs environment ( e-customs') as indicated in a report by Christopher Heaton-Harris (EPP, UK). The Commission puts required investment for e-customs at around 161 million from 2007 to...