Commission européenne/Europese Commissie, BE-1049 Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIQUE/BELGIË - Tel. +32 229-91111 Office: J79 - 5/047- Tel. direct line +32 229-66795 susanne.aigner@ec.europa.eu

EUROPEAN COMMISSION DIRECTORATE-GENERAL TAXATION AND CUSTOMS UNION Customs Customs Legislation Head of Unit

Brussels, TAXUD/A2/SA-LG/ac taxud.a.2(2019)8766146

NOTE FOR THE ATTENTION OF THE

CUSTOMS 2020 NATIONAL COORDINATORS

IN CZECHIA, GREECE, MALTA AND LITHUANIA

Subject: Customs 2020 Programme – Invitation to participate in the

monitoring visit to Lithuania on the implementation of

simplifications and the reassessment of authorisations, from 4 to 5

February 2020

DG TAXUD in the European Commission has recently made arrangements to visit the

Lithuanian customs administration in the framework of the monitoring on the

implementation of simplifications and the reassessment of authorisations. The visit will

be to the Lithuanian Customs Administration on 4 and 5 February 2020.

The participants in this event will be experts in the field of simplifications in the

European Commission and in the customs administrations of Lithuania and three other

Member States.

The background and purpose of the visit are set out in Annex I to this note. The visit will

also allow Member States' participants to exchange experiences and identify workable

solutions in the same field of the implementation of simplifications and the reassessment

of authorisations.

Mr Tomáš Kocourek and Mr Richard Vesecký from Czechia, Mr Alan Mamo and Mr

Francis Callus from Malta and Mr Christos Bilanakos from Greece have been invited to

participate in this visit.

Mr Dimitrios Tsagkalakis and Mr Luc Goorman from DG TAXUD Unit A2 (Customs

Legislation) will also attend.

The questionnaire completed by the Lithuanian administration, which will constitute the

basis for the visit, will be circulated to participants shortly.

The meeting will be held in English and will start at 09:00 on 4 February and finish at

the latest at 15:30 on 5 February. A draft agenda is attached as Annex II.

Practical information for Member States' participants about the travel arrangements can

be found in Annex III to this note.

Ref. Ares(2019)7826532 - 19/12/2019

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For any further questions about this visit, you may wish to contact Mr Dimitrios

Tsagkalakis (Dimitrios.TSAGKALAKIS@ec.europa.eu) in DG TAXUD/A2.

Member States' participants will be reimbursed from the Customs 2020 programme

budget under the conditions specified in the financial guide, using the financial code

mentioned below.

Dates, venue and financial code are as follows:

4-5 February 2020 - Financial Code: CMT/017/003

Customs Department, A. Jakšto g. 1, LT-01105 Vilnius, Lithuania

Delegates should contact their Customs 2020 National Coordinator before making any

travel arrangements. The latter are requested to register their participants in the Activity

Reporting Tool before the event takes place.

Officials attending events organised under the Programme have to fulfil the reporting

obligation under the Performance Measurement Framework (PMF) of the Programme by

providing feedback through Event Assessment Forms when requested. Programme

Coordinators should encourage participants to fulfil this obligation.

(e-signed)

Susanne Aigner

Annexes: I Background and purpose of the monitoring

II Draft agenda

III Practical information about travel arrangements

IV Privacy Statement

c.c.: Mr Kermode (Dir. A), Ms Kuniga (A1), Ms Árvai-Unger (E3),

Ms Aigner, Mr Reimann, Mr Goorman, Mr Tsagkalakis, Ms Mitrea, Ms Nagy

(A2), Mr Voglaire (E3)

Mr Kucirek, Ms Goulard (BUDG)

Mr Roebling, Mr Ravillard (OLAF)

Ms Petkevičiūtė, Ms Kosaitė (Lithuanian Customs)

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ANNEX I

Background and purpose of the monitoring on the implementation of

simplifications and the reassessment of authorisations

The Union Customs Code (Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 of the European Parliament

and of the Council) is applicable as from 1 May 2016. In its Title V, it provides for new

simplifications linked with the placement of goods under a customs procedure. These

simplifications can be granted to compliant and trustworthy economic operators, subject

to the fulfilment of certain conditions and criteria.

However, an administrative transition, provided by Title IX of the UCC DA and IA,

encompasses a period of progressive conformity of all customs authorisations/decisions

with the new rules. This period has ended on 30 April 2019. Single authorisations for

simplified procedures (SASP) are not covered by the deadline for this transition and

remain valid until the relevant IT systems for centralized clearance are deployed.

Member States should by now have reassessed all previously issued authorisations for

simplified procedures, other than SASP, and replaced them with new ones in line with

the UCC.

The monitoring exercises that DG TAXUD plans to carry out in 2019 and 2020, is

aiming at ensuring that the Union customs legislation is applied correctly and in a

harmonised way by all EU MS.

In particular, DG TAXUD intends to assess the area of customs simplifications that are

provided for in the UCC, in view of ensuring that the reassessment of the pre-existing

authorisations have been conducted according to the legal provisions, as well as the

customs controls and the efficiency and effectiveness of resources available. All these

will provide the management, both at national as well as EU level, an insight of:

1. whether the administrative procedures need to be improved,

2. the best practices and

3. whether the resources available are sufficient and are being well used.

The monitoring exercise is expected to trigger discussion on the efficiency of customs

simplifications and trade facilitation and may lead to legislative improvements or

clarifications in the guidance on simplifications.

A structured questionnaire has been prepared for this monitoring action (see also note

Ares(2019)4221344 dated 3/7/2019). Its aim is to allow the monitoring team to:

evaluate strengths and weaknesses in the relevant parts of the organisation being

monitored;

identify those parts which require most attention and plan the visit accordingly;

determine the level of understanding of the Member State being monitored with

regard to the legislation in question and how it is applied;

obtain findings, reach conclusions and make recommendations in the relevant

report with regard to how the legislation or administrative procedures monitored

are applied.

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ANNEX II

Draft agenda for the monitoring visit to Lithuania on the implementation of

simplifications and the reassessment of authorisations

(Vilnius, 4 and 5 February 2020)

Day 1 – 4 February 2020

At the hotel lobby

9h00-9h45 Briefing for the participating Member States on the objective of the visit

At the Lithuanian Customs Department

10h00-10h30 Welcome by the host administration;

Introduction by the COM on the initiative;

Brief introduction on the state of play in the participating Member States

10h30-11h00 Presentation by the LT administration on its organisational structure for

managing simplifications and the reassessment of authorisations;

Questions and answers session

11h00-11h15 Coffee break

11h15-12h00 Discussions on Section 1 of the questionnaire (General information)

12h00-13h00 Lunch break

13h00-15h00 Discussions on Section 2 of the questionnaire (Customs simplifications)

15h00-15h15 Coffee break

15h15-17h00 Discussions on Section 3 of the questionnaire (Re-assessment of

authorisations – questions 24 to 29)

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Day 2 – 5 February 2020

9h30-9h45 Summary of day 1

9h45-11h00 Resuming the discussions on Section 3 of the questionnaire (Re-

assessment of authorisations – questions 30 to 37)

11h00-11h15 Coffee break

11h15-12h00 Discussions on Section 4 of the questionnaire (Guarantees)

12h00-13h00 Lunch break

13h00-14h00 Further discussion on any issues encountered by the LT administration, in

relation to the implementation of simplifications and the reassessment of

authorisations;

Feedback by the Commission and the participating Member States

14h00-14h30 Sum up discussion

14h30-14h45 Coffee break

14h45–15h30 Debriefing with the participating Member States on findings and possible

recommendations

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ANNEX III

Practical information about travel arrangements

1. TRAVELLING FROM VILNIUS AIRPORT TO THE CUSTOMS DEPARTMENT

HEADQUARTERS, A. JAKŠTO G. 1, LT-01105 VILNIUS, LITHUANIA

By Taxi:

Vilnius Airport approved taxi rank can be found just in front of the arrivals

terminal. All taxi cabs accept cash and credit cards. Always ask for a printed

receipt at the end of the trip! Route to the Customs Department Headquarters (A.

Jakšto g. 1, LT-01105, Vilnius) rate must be about 10-15 Eur.

For more information: https://www.vilnius-airport.lt/en/services-at-the-airport/taxi

You can also order taxi in several different ways:

o on-line via the following links: https://www.taksinet.lt/en/ or

https://www.etaksi.lt/en/book-taxi-online. The address of the Vilnius

airport if it needs to be indicated is Rodunios kelias 2;

o using mobile phone apps. For more information please use this link:

https://itunes.apple.com/lt/app/etaksi/id785007327?mt=8;

o by phone +370 5 2400004 or +370 5 2424242. For more information

please use this link: http://www.standart-taksi.lt/taxi-service-rates.html.

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By public transport: From the Vilnius International Airport (bus stop Oro uostas)

by a public bus No 88 (day time) or 88N (night time) (direction Europos aikštė) to

the bus stop Vinco Kudirkos aikštė (6th

bus stop). Then walk for 5 minutes.

Alternatively, from the Vilnius International Airport (bus stop Oro uostas) by a

public bus No 3G to the bus stop Juozo Tumo-Vaižganto st. (6th

bus stop). Then

walk for 6-7 minutes.

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Independent of which bus line is used, Customs Department is within walking distance

from the bus stops (5-6 minutes walking):

For more information please use this link:

http://www.stops.lt/vilnius/#plan/2613/0210/map,,,1/en

Tickets for public transport (buses, trolleybuses) in Vilnius:

Single tickets can be purchased from the driver for €1 (cash only, coins or small notes).

Ticket bought from the driver needs to be stamped by putting it into the yellow validation

machine near the driver’s cabin. These tickets are valid only for one journey without

changing the public transport vehicles.

Alternatively Vilniečio kortelė can be bought for €1.5 at Narvesen kiosk

in the airport terminal which provides ability to buy time based tickets.

Vilniečio kortelė is credited with an appropriate amount of money

and/or the selected public transport tickets. Ticket must be validated on

your first journey by swiping the card (Vilniečio kortelė) at the yellow

electronic reader on the bus. With a valid ticket in the card, properly

activated on board of public vehicle, if necessary, it is possible to change the public

transport vehicles for free and for unlimited number of journeys:

30 – minutes ticket (0.65 Eur),

60 – minutes ticket (0.90 Eur),

1 day – 24 hours ticket (5 Eur),

3 day – 72 hours ticket (8 Eur).

It is also possible to buy e tickets using the apps m.Ticket or Trafi

For more information please use this link: https://www.vilnius-airport.lt/en/before-the-

flight/transport/by-public-transport.

Both applications are free of charge, but you need to have 3G connection. Both

applications allow the user to purchase different types of Vilnius public transport tickets.

At least one ticket must be activated during the trip. The ticket price is the same as

paying by Vilniečio kortelė.

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2. HOTEL ACCOMMODATION

The Hotel Novotel Vilnius Centre is within walking distance from the meeting venue

(5-6 minutes). For practical reasons, all Member States' participants are advised to stay at

the same hotel (a pre-booking has already been arranged by DG TAXUD for all

participants, from 3 to 5 February 2020). In the morning of 4 February, the briefing by

the Commission for the Member States' participants will be held at the hotel lobby,

starting at 09:00.

Rooms are available at a special rate of 91 Eur per night for single occupancy, breakfast

included (73,39 eur for single occupancy without breakfast). Participants are invited to

make their reservations as soon as possible. Participants who would need to check out on

6 February due to inconvenient flight schedules on the previous day, need to make their

reservation accordingly.

Each participant is requested to make his or her individual hotel reservation via the e-

mail address H5209-re@accor.com, requiring the application of the ‘EC rate’.

The hotel is within walking distance from bus stop Vinco Kudirkos aikštė of Bus line 88

(please see picture below).

Hotel Novotel Vilnius Centre

Gedimino av. 16

LT-01103, Vilnius

Tel.: +37 0 52666200

https://all.accor.com/hotel/5209/index.fr.shtml

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ANNEX IV

PRIVACY STATEMENT

Description: Personal data related to this invitation will be processed in accordance with

Regulation (EC) n° 45/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the

protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data by the

Community institutions and bodies and on the free movement of such data.

Purpose: The purpose of the processing of personal data is: management of the meeting

including management of: lists and mailings-lists for contacts, invitations, participants,

reports, distribution of reports, feedback on reports, meeting follow-up, follow-up

meetings, follow-up actions, photographs/pictures, presentations, live webstreaming

and/or audio and video recording of speakers and participants, news and publications.

Personal data collected and further processed are:

data necessary for the organisation and management of the meeting, such as

Gender (needed for the right title)/name/surname/profession/ postal & e-mail

addresses/ phone number/fax number.

identity/passport n°/date of birth (for access control purpose by security guards to

the Commission's premises – see DPO-508)

information about the form of transport used & hotel, and banking information

(for purpose of reimbursement of travel expenses/allowances – see DPO-372)

pictures, presentations, live webstreaming and/or audio and video recording of

speakers and participants, (an opt-out is provided for to participants who prefer

their images are not recorded when resources are available).

if you are invited as a member/observer of a Commission Experts Group, some of

your personal data (listed in the Notification DPO-2194) will be made publicly

available in the Commission's Register of Expert Groups

(http://ec.europa.eu/secretariat_general/regexp/) for as long as the membership

upholds and/or until removal from the public site is requested, in view of the

transparency policy of the European Institutions1 and the need to inform the

public of the identity and qualifications of the experts advising the Institution.

Controller: Head of Unit E.2 "Inter-institutional Relations, Coordination,

Communication and Strategic Planning" of DG TAXUD

Recipients: The access to all personal data as well as all information collected in the

context of this meeting, and the organisation thereof, is only granted through

User ID/Password to officials in charge of the meeting, without prejudice to a possible

transmission to the officials in charge of a monitoring or inspection task in accordance

with Union legislation. These users typically are: the chairman and the secretary of the

meeting, both supported by a team in the operational services inside DG TAXUD.

1 See also 'COM(2007)127 final' and http://ec.europa.eu/transparency/eti/index_en.htm

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Pictures, presentations, live webstreaming and/or audio and video recording of speakers,

participants and organisers might be made available freely on the internet in the

framework of European Commission activities.

Data retention: Your personal data will be part of a list of contact details shared

internally amongst the Commission services for the purpose of contacting you in the

future in the context of the Commission's activities. If you do not agree with this, please

contact the Controller by using the Contact Information mentioned in the invitation letter

and by explicitly specifying your request.

Contact: Please use the contact information mentioned in the invitation letter. Further to

that contact, questions can be raised with the Data Protection Coordinator of DG

TAXUD

Recourse: Complaints, in case of conflict, can be addressed to the Commission Data

Protection Officer or to the European Data Protection Supervisor

Electronically signed on 19/12/2019 14:14 (UTC+01) in accordance with article 4.2 (Validity of electronic documents) of Commission Decision 2004/563