Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-06-16-Speech-1-146"
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"en.20080616.22.1-146"2
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"Mr President, as chair of the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection with responsibility for customs policy, I certainly welcome the opportunity to speak in this debate to mark 40 years of the Customs Union. The IMCO Committee, as has already been said, attaches great importance to our customs work, because it is the pragmatic and practical face of the European Union’s work. Without doubt the Customs Union has helped increase the competitiveness of EU business by simplifying and getting rid of unnecessary rules for business and legitimate traders. 175 million customs declarations are handled annually, with an average customs clearance taking only two minutes.
But there is still more to do. SMEs need more help to minimise the difficulties they face when trading in Europe. Paperless customs, centralised clearance and a single window will facilitate and support our SMEs, but it must of course be rigorously pursued by Member States if we are to reap the benefits.
This is also an opportunity to step up and reinforce our commitment to fighting the influx and flood of pirated and counterfeit goods. Fake goods and fake medicines not only undermine EU business, they are a grave and ever-present threat to our consumers’ health and safety, an issue which the Consumer Protection Committee is deeply concerned about.
So, working with third countries and in particular China, we want to improve the interception of dangerous and illegal goods; but ultimately we need to make our Customs Union work better. Member States are called upon this evening to take their responsibilities more seriously for implementation and enforcement and to back this up with serious resources.
Commissioner, you can continue to rely on us in the IMCO Committee to work with you to improve the Customs Union as a cornerstone of the internal market and of course as a central element for the functioning and success of the EU economy. We must ensure that our 27 Member States work together more closely: that they liaise, share information and make Europe work better and more smoothly for legitimate business; and that we do crack down on the serious and growing problem of counterfeit and pirated goods entering our market."@en1
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