On Thursday, the European Commission (EC) published information in its regular package of decisions on violations of legal regulations, what legal steps it takes against member states that do not fulfill their obligations. Slovakia is mentioned only once within this package, in the field of tax policy, reports TASR reporter.
- The European Commission has published actions against states for legal violations.
- Slovakia received a warning in the area of tax and customs policy.
- Failure to implement the NIS and TS Air systems violates the EU Customs Code.
- Member States have two months to respond to the Commission.
- Failure to comply with obligations may lead to an EU court.
The European Commission sent three reasoned opinions in the field of taxation. It called on the Czech Republic to fully implement the national import system, and warned Greece and Slovakia that they must fully implement the temporary storage system according to the EU Customs Code.
According to the EC notification, Greece and Slovakia have not fully implemented the National Import System (NIS) and the Temporary Storage System for Air Transport (TS Air). They did not act in accordance with what is required by the Union Customs Code (UCC) and as imposed by the EC Implementing Decision of 2023.
The mentioned systems are key components of CCC’s digital customs framework. Member States were obliged to fully operationalize them by 31 December 2023. Despite previous formal calls from the EC, three member states have not yet implemented these systems or provided credible short-term implementation plans.
The Czech Republic has postponed the introduction of NIS to the first half of 2026. Greece has not completed the introduction of TS Air, which is postponed to 2027. Slovakia plans to introduce TS Air only in 2026-2027.
As a further legal step, the Commission therefore decided to issue reasoned opinions to the Czech Republic, Greece and Slovakia. The said member states now have two months to provide an answer to Brussels and to take the necessary measures. Otherwise, the European Commission may decide to refer these cases to the Court of Justice of the European Union.
