The EU Customs Reform:
Preparing for the Future of Trade in an Uncertain World

As the world prepares for new trade tensions, the ongoing reform of EU customs rules shines a spotlight on fundamental questions – how to protect free trade while ensuring a level playing field for companies of all sizes and origin? How to ensure regulation does not hinder entrepreneurship? Faced with the perspective of additional tariffs coming from the other side of the Atlantic, how should Europe respond?

In this scenario, the overhaul of EU customs rules raises as many opportunities as the challenges it brings, particularly in sectors such as e-commerce. As negotiations resume after the short pause brought about by EU elections, regulators and stakeholders are called to discuss a wide array of topics, ranging from the establishment of an EU Customs Authority to the obligations and legal status of importers. EU elections also brought new perspectives, with the European Commission releasing its toolbox for safe and sustainable e-commerce, pitching additional ideas for co-legislators to consider, such as the potential requirement for e-commerce operators to pay a “handling fee” to offset the costs of managing low-value consignments entering the EU.

Far from being a merely technical subject, the reform of customs rules remains at the forefront of the EU’s trade policy, as it is bound to define the direction of travel for the European Union in the years to come. Ensuring this direction favours businesses, and particularly SMEs seeking to grow, while finding the right balance between granting consumers freedom to choose and protecting people and the environment from harmful practices will remain the main challenge in these negotiations.

Aware that there is no “silver bullet” to answer all the questions brought about by the reform, our fireside chat, organised with the initiative of Women in Trade, hopes to contribute to the debate and bring fresh perspectives into one of the greatest challenges in trade policies and the digital economy.

This event is organized in partnership with the Women in Trade network. Launched in 2015, the Women in Trade (WIT) network gathers women from the public and private sectors interested in sharing experiences and ideas on international trade policy and negotiations, with a strong European perspective. WIT aims to deepen the general understanding of EU trade and trade-related issues among policy and legal professionals, as well as to widen the networks of participants in WIT events.