Customs duties and common customs tariff as an instrument for the protection of the European Union internal Market: An economic and financial dimension

Abstract

Customs duties and common tariffs remain a traditional instrument for protecting the European Union (EU) common market. The customs tariff embraces the customs nomenclature (a systematised list of goods) with the applicable duty rates, on the basis of which the duty payable on imports into the European Union is calculated. The customs tariff and the customs duties it contains not only have a protective function, but also possess an economic and fiscal dimension, as they ensure the EU budget revenue. The main objective of this study is to show the role played by customs duties and tariffs in the protection of the internal market and EU producers, including the economic and fiscal dimension of these market protection tariff instruments. The specific objective is to verify the research hypothesis that the role of customs duties and the common customs tariff in the protection of the EU common market is decreasing. The analysis of the level, types and changes of customs duties in the EU customs tariff confirmed the research hypothesis that customs duties generally no longer play a major role in the protection of the internal market. For more than twenty years, they showed a downward trend, starting in the mid-1990s. However, for some goods, mainly agricultural ones (dairy products, sugar and confectionery, cereals), but also textiles, clothing and motor vehicles, customs duties are still a barrier to access to the EU market, so they perform an important protective function and have a significant fiscal dimension. The study relies on traditional research methods: deductive reasoning and comparative analysis. For the purpose of the analysis, various sources were used, such as domestic and foreign literature, legal acts of the EU secondary legislation in the form of regulations, statistical data of the Eurostat, the World Trade Organization and the World Bank.