Based on a proposal by the Commissioner for Budget and Human Resources, Günther H. Oettinger, the European Commission has decided to send a Reasoned Opinion to the United Kingdom because of its failure to make customs duties available to the EU budget, as required by EU law.
This is the second step the Commission is taking in the formal infringement procedure for this case in order to protect the financial interests of the EU. In March 2018, the Commission opened the infringement procedure following a 2017 report by the EU’s anti-fraud body OLAF, which found that importers in the United Kingdom evaded a large amount of customs duties by using fictitious and false invoices and incorrect customs value declarations at importation.
The United Kingdom now has two months to act; otherwise the Commission may refer the case to the Court of Justice of the EU. The Commission calculates that the infringement of EU legislation by the United Kingdom resulted in losses to the EU budget amounting to €2.7 billion (plus interest and minus collection costs) during the periodbetween November 2011 and October 2017. More information is available in the press release here.
