The new European customs law

Abstract

Profound economic and legal changes have made it necessary to reform European customs law. The Modernised European Customs Code (MCC) was outdated before it had even entered into force and was therefore recast as the Union Customs Code (UCC). It entered into force in October 2013 and will take effect from 1 May 2016. Besides structural changes, the UCC features substantive changes and amendments, particularly concerning the incurrence and extinguishment of the customs debt, the customs debtor, penalties, repayment and remission, customs procedures as well as the Authorised Economic Operator (AEO). This paper provides an overview of these changes.