On Friday, 18 October 2024, the third seminar of the ECCE project (EUROPEAN COMMON CUSTOMS EVALUATION) took place in Münster. The seminar was entitled ‘CUSTOMS SANCTION SYSTEM OF THE EU MEMBER STATES’ and dealt with the different sanction systems for customs law offences in the Member States of the European Union. As there is no uniform harmonised sanction system at European level, the seminar offered the opportunity to examine and evaluate the differences and similarities of sanctions for customs law infringements from the perspectives of the individual member states. The design and delimitation of sanctions as administrative offences or as penalties was also discussed. Various professors and lecturers from all over Europe contributed their expertise in various presentations. In view of the European Commission’s planned reform of customs law, which provides for the standardisation of sanctions for customs law infringements at European level, the seminar also took a look into the future of customs sanctions.

After a welcome to the participants and an introduction to the topic by Prof Dr Hans-Michael Wolffgang, Prof Dr Santiago Ibanez Marsilla and Prof Dr Jorge J. Milla Ibanez from the Universitat de Valencia opened the lecture series with their presentation ‘Sanctions for customs violations in Spain’. In their presentations, they shed light on the constitutional framework for customs sanctions and penalties in Spain and presented the Spanish sanctions system. This was followed by the Italian perspective entitled ‘The recent overhaul of the customs sanctions in Italy’, presented by Prof. Dr Giangiacomo D’Angelo, Dr Vincenzo Carbone and Dr Federico Tarini from the University of Bologna. Among other things, they gave the participants an overview of the new reform of the tax system in Italy and the associated new regulations for the treatment of customs offences. The German system of administrative offences and penalties for customs law violations was discussed in detail by Prof. Dr Lothar Gellert from the Federal University of Public Administration in his presentation ‘Sanctions for customs violations in Germany’. Finally, Dr Martijn Schippers, LL.M. from the Erasmus University Rotterdam addressed customs sanctions in the Netherlands. In this context, he explained the influence of the UCC and its interpretation by the Court of Justice of the European Union on the national customs law of the Netherlands and the resulting consequences.

Following the presentation of the national particularities of customs sanctions law, Prof. Dr. Hans-Michael Wolffgang, Benedikt Wemmer and Sophie Fanenstich introduced the participants to the planned harmonisation of the sanctions system through the UCC reform package in the second part of the seminar. In their contribution, they critically questioned, among other things, whether the European Union actually has the competence to regulate criminal sanctions at European level or whether it is not ultra vires exceeding the powers granted to it by the European Treaties.

At the end of the seminar, Diego Modonesi from the European Commission brought his practical perspective from his work for the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) and informed the participants about the latest developments and challenges in the fight against customs fraud, especially in the area of e-commerce.

You can view and download the presentations and the recording of the seminar by clicking here.