opinion parliamentary committee draft, 18 March 2026
On the proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing the Single Market and Customs Programme for the period 2028-2034 and repealing Regulations (EU) 2021/444, (EU) 2021/690, (EU) 2021/785, (EU) 2021/847 and (EU) 2021/1077
Document BUDG-PA-786690 · (COM(2025)0590 – C100198/2025 – 2025/0590(COD))
Committee on Budgets · Rapporteur: Danuše Nerudová
AI:In short
The Committee on Budgets gives its budgetary assessment of the proposed Single Market and Customs Programme for 2028-2034, which merges parts of five existing programmes into one envelope. It considers the envelope should be increased from EUR 6.2 billion (EUR 5.5 billion in 2025 prices), with sufficient human resources from the outset. It asks for safeguards on flexibility, indicative sub-envelopes in the basic act, and scrutiny of external assigned revenue. It stresses better governance, monitoring and coordination with other Union instruments, and clearer strand-specific performance indicators.
Position. The Committee on Budgets proposes that the programme envelope be increased, that sufficient human resources be guaranteed, that flexibility be balanced with safeguards and indicative sub-envelopes, and that external assigned revenue and performance monitoring be subject to scrutiny.
Key points
- The proposal merges parts of five existing programmes into a single envelope covering the single market, customs, taxation and anti-fraud.
- The committee considers the programme envelope should be increased from EUR 6.2 billion (EUR 5.5 billion in 2025 prices).
- Sufficient human resources must be available from the outset and throughout the next multiannual financial framework period.
- The surge in e-commerce has increased customs authorities' workload, and they must be adequately resourced; customs duties are a traditional own resource of the Union.
- Flexibility should be balanced with predictability and internal safeguards for mandatory functions; the committee deplores the lack of budget breakdown and recommends indicative sub-envelopes in the basic act.
- The committee is concerned that the proposed nomenclature lets the Commission transfer appropriations between former programmes without a budgetary authority decision.
- Consolidation requires appropriate governance, coherent prioritisation, transparent resource allocation and robust monitoring, with priority for enforcement-related activities.
- Complementarity with other programmes must not harm expenditure traceability, budgetary authority prerogatives or lead to double funding.
- External assigned revenue must be clearly circumscribed, transparent and subject to parliamentary scrutiny, with any amendments coordinated with the Committee on Budgets.
- The committee is concerned that heterogeneous activities will limit the reliability of performance indicators and calls for clearer strand-specific results and harmonised national data-quality requirements.
- Any change in architecture, objectives and eligible actions must be reflected in the monitoring provisions under Annex I of the performance regulation.
Who is affected
- Customs and market surveillance authorities, which need adequate resources to handle increased low-value imports and enforce Union standards.
- The Commission, which would gain latitude to shift spending priorities and transfer appropriations under the proposed nomenclature.
- The budgetary authority, whose decision rights and scrutiny over transfers and external assigned revenue are at stake.
- Participating third countries and other third parties that make financial contributions to the programme.
Figures and deadlines
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Full text
Budgetary assessment 18 paragraphs
for the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection on the proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing the Single Market and Customs Programme for the period 2028-2034 and repealing Regulations (EU) 2021/444, (EU) 2021/690, (EU) 2021/785, (EU) 2021/847 and (EU) 2021/1077
(COM(2025)0590 – C100198/2025 – 2025/0590(COD))
The Committee on Budgets has carried out a budgetary assessment of the proposal under Rule 58 of the Rules of Procedure and has reached the following conclusions:
The Committee on Budgets,
A.whereas the proposal brings together parts of five separate programmes existing under the current MFF, creating therefore a single envelope in the area of Single Market, customs, taxation and anti-fraud;
B.whereas in the current geopolitical context, removing barriers and reducing fragmentation is essential to unlocking new opportunities of growth across the EU economy;
C.whereas the rapid growth of e-commerce has significantly increased low-value imports, creating substantial challenges for customs and market surveillance authorities in ensuring compliance with Union standards;
D.whereas the European Court of Auditors delivered its Opinion 08/2026;
1.Considers that the programme envelope should be increased from EUR 6.2 billion (EUR 5.5 billion in 2025 prices) to [number from the MFF interim report, in current and 2025 prices] in order to deepen the single market while promoting convergence, strengthen the capacity of customs and market surveillance authorities, and protect the safety, security, and financial and economic interests of the Union and its Member States;
2.Considers that sufficient human resources must be available from the outset and throughout the entire programming period of the next MFF to ensure an effective implementation of the Single Market and Customs Programme (SMCP);
3.Stresses that the surge in e-commerce has significantly increased the workload of customs authorities, which must therefore be adequately resourced to carry out their functions; underlines that customs duties constitute a traditional own resource of the Union and that customs authorities therefore serve the interest of the Union as a whole;
4.Considers that, while some flexibility would enable timely adjustment to evolving spending priorities, above all in view of the on-going review of the EU’s customs code and the EU anti-fraud architecture, predictability and internal safeguards should be ensured in particular for mandatory programme functions; deplores the lack of breakdown of the budget of SMCP; notes that this would give the Commission great latitude to shift and decide on spending priorities during implementation; recommends giving consideration to fixing indicative sub-envelopes in the basic act;
Read the rest (6 paragraphs)
5.Expresses concerns about the nomenclature proposed in the Legislative Financial and Digital Statement (LFDS), guaranteeing additional flexibility for the Commission to transfer appropriations between what were previously identified as separate programmes, in application of Article 30(1)(a) of the Financial Regulation, not subject to budgetary authority decision;
6.Underlines that, given the diversity of activities covered by the SMCP, consolidation into a single framework will require an appropriate level of governance, coherent prioritisation system, transparent resource allocation and robust monitoring and evaluation mechanisms; stresses that particular priority should be given to enforcement-related activities ensuring that goods placed on the Union market comply with Union safety, environmental and consumer protection rules;
7.Takes note of the suggested complementarity between SMCP and other programmes such as National and Regional Partnership Plans, the European Competitiveness Fund, Horizon Europe, Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) and Global Europe; stresses that enhanced complementarity between instruments must not come to the expense of traceability of expenditure or the prerogatives of the budgetary authority nor lead to double funding; notes in particular that programmes supporting digital infrastructure, customs cooperation and product compliance databases should be coordinated with other Union instruments to maximise the effectiveness of enforcement across the single market;
8.Stresses that the use of external assigned revenue under SMCP must be clearly circumscribed, fully transparent and subject to effective parliamentary scrutiny; takes note in that regard of the provisions relating to financial contributions by any participating third country and other third parties; underlines that, should the lead committee consider amending provisions relating to external assigned revenue, this should be done in coordination with the Committee on Budgets and the other committees in order to ensure a consistent approach;
9.Recalls the proposal for a Regulation on establishing a budget expenditure tracking and performance framework and other horizontal rules for the Union programmes and activities (the “performance regulation”), which establishes a single streamlined list for performance indicators and monitoring and evaluation provisions, some of them being relevant for SMCP; is concerned that the highly heterogeneous activities funded under the SMCP will limit the reliability of the performance indicators, and calls for clearer identification of strand-specific results, greater emphasis on results rather than outputs, and harmonised national data-quality requirements;
10.Underlines that any change in the architecture, objectives and eligible actions under the programme will need to be appropriately reflected in the monitoring provisions under Annex I of the performance regulation, as part of the process of amending and negotiating that regulation.
Amendments 16 paragraphs
As part of its budgetary assessment, the Committee on Budgets also submits the following amendments to the proposal:
Amendment 1
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 38 a (new)
| Text proposed by the Commission | Amendment |
|---|---|
| (38a) The provisions of this Regulation as well as its governance arrangements should be conducive to proper decision-making by the budgetary authority and to appropriate parliamentary oversight. In particular, any specification of the Single Market and Customs Programme’s internal architecture should be duly reflected in the budget nomenclature through the introduction of corresponding budget lines. |
Or. en
Amendment 2
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 38 b (new)
| Text proposed by the Commission | Amendment |
|---|---|
| (38b) The implications of this Regulation for the Union budget have been assessed+ pursuant to Article 310(4) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. Sufficient financial and human resources should be provided for its implementation, while considering the impact of the financing on other Union programmes or policies and ensuring its compatibility with the multiannual financial framework, the system of own resources and the corresponding interinstitutional agreement, as well as with the budgetary principles laid down in Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509 of the European Parliament and of the Council[1]. | |
| + Pro memoria: Budgetary assessment of the European Parliament’s Committee on Budgets of [date] on proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing the Single Market and Customs Programme for the period 2028-2034 and repealing Regulations (EU) 2021/444, (EU) 2021/690, (EU) 2021/785, (EU) 2021/847 and (EU) 2021/1077 (COM(2025)0590). | |
| [1] Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 September 2024 on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union (OJ L, 2024/2509, 26.9.2024, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/2509/oj). |
Or. en
Amendment 3
Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 – paragraph 1
| Text proposed by the Commission | Amendment |
|---|---|
| The indicative financial envelope for the implementation of the programme for the period from 1 January 2028 to 31 December 2034 is set at EUR 6 238 112 000 in current prices. | The reference amount for the implementation of the programme for the period from 1 January 2028 to 31 December 2034 is set at EUR [insert number from the Interim report on the proposal for the multiannual financial framework for 2028-2034 (2025/0571R(APP)) , in current and 2025 prices]; |
Or. en