No L 33/24 Official Journal of the European Communities 4.2 97 DECISION No 210/97/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 19 December 1996 adopting an action programme for customs in the Community (Customs 2000) THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF (3) Whereas the Member States and the Commission THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 100a thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (*), Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (3), Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 189b of the Treaty (%) in the light of the joint text approved on 10 October 1996 by the Conciliation Committee, (1) Whereas the completion of the internal market on 1 Janaury 1993, the entry into force of the Treaty on European Union, the enlargement of the Com- take all the measures necessary to enable customs services to discharge their responsibilities under the provisions for enforcement of common policies, in particular in the context of monitoring implementa- tion of the common commercial policy, the common agricultural policy and the common fish- eries policy, as efficiently as possible; (4) Whereas the fact that there are no internal borders, while enabling goods to move freely throughout Community customs territory without any customs formalities, makes it necessary to carry out pro- cedures and controls of equivalent effectiveness at every point of that territory on entry or exit in order to safeguard the application of Community policies and to protect the legitimate interests of citizens and economic operators as well as the Community’s financial interests, while respecting the need for speed and fluidity in external trade; munity to incude new States, the extension of the (5) Whereas the application of these procedures and Community Transit System to include Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary and the rapid development of trade between the Community and the rest of the world, in particular as a consequence of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) agreements signed in April 1994 and approved by the Council on 19 December 1994, require the clear identification and implementation of strategic guidelines, so that the role that customs services are expected to play in the Community may be better defined; (2) Whereas, although the completion of the internal market eliminated controls on goods at all the controls at the point of entry into, or exit from, Community customs territory or at the point in that territory where customs clearance is carried out is the responsibility of the customs administrations of the Member States; whereas the effectiveness of the action of those customs administrations is an essen- tial condition for guaranteeing the proper manage- ment of the internal market; whereas, in cases where it is necessary to ensure, inter alia, a high degree of protection of the Community’s financal interests, criteria agreed at Community level shall determine the nature of the controls to be carried out; internal borders of the Union, substantial differences (6) Whereas, for the protection of the financial interests persist between the home markets of the Member States and the internal market; whereas the con- tinuing development of the internal market towards a genuine ‘home market’ must therefore be en- couraged; () OJ No C 346, 23. 12. 1995, p. 4 and OJ No C 23, 27. 1. 1996, 7 ® ?)j No C 301, 13. 11. 1995, p. . (*) Opinion of the European Parliament of 25 October 1995 (O] No C 308, 20. 11. 1995, p. 46), common position of the Council of 22 December 1995 (O] No C 37, 9. 2. 1996 p. 11) and Decision of the European Parliament of 16 April 1996 (OJ No C 141, 13. 5. 1996, p. 36). Decision of the European Parliament of 10 December 1996 and Decision of the Council of 19 December 1996. of the European Community, cooperation should be strengthened so that the customs administrations of the Member States may operate as efficiently and effectively as would one single administration; (7) Whereas equivalent results can be obtained from customs action in the application of Community law only by strengthening cooperation and collaboration among the customs administrations of the Member States and between them and the Commission; whereas the development of such cooperation can only strengthen the effectiveness of instruments for