Croatia and Turkey wish to accede the Common transit procedure
Croatia and Turkey are interested in being invited to accede to the Convention on a Common transit procedure. The 1987 EU-EFTA Conventions on a common transit procedure and the simplification of formalities in trade in goods currently cover the EU, Norway, Switzerland and Iceland.
The European Commission has set out its strategy to prepare certain candidate countries for accession to the Conventions. The approach of the Commission is that a country only can be invited to accede if it is able to implement the whole of the acquis on common transit and the simplification of formalities in force. This means e.g. that only those countries possessing a computerized transit system that meets the legal, technical and financial requirements of the New Computerised Transit System (NCTS) will be invited.
In order to be able to have the legal basis for the use of the common transit procedure as quickly as possible after assessment has shown that the candidate country complies with the conditions set, the Council Decision should provide the basis of acceptance for these countries.
This proposed Council decision should be the basis for the invitation for accession to Croatia and Turkey, which should be ready to comply with the conditions for accession as soon as the connection to CCN/CSI is establised.
Croatia and Turkey’s accession to the Conventions will create a larger area for common transit operations which will benefit European trade.
Source: Brussels, COM(2011) 640 final, 13-10-2011
