19. 1. 2000 Official Journal of the European Communities L13/1 (Acts whose publication is obligatory) DECISION No 105/2000/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 17 December 1999 amending Decision No 210/97/EC adopting an action programme for customs in the Community (Customs 2000) and repealing Council Decision 91/341/EEC THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 95 thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission ('), Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (%), Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty (%), Whereas: (1)  Decision No 210/97/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 December 1996 adopting an action programme for customs in the Community (Customs 2000) (%) established a common framework of objectives as the basis of Community action on customs matters to improve the efficiency and standardisation of customs operations within the internal market; (2)  The operation of information exchange systems at Community level has demonstrated the usefulness of computerised systems in ensuring the correct application of customs procedures throughout the customs territory of the Community and protecting the Community's own resources while minimising the administrative burden; these systems have proved to be essential instruments of cooperation between the customs authorities of the European Union; (3)  Communication and information exchange systems should be created and it should be ensured that future needs of customs systems are met in the interests of continued cooperation; (") OJ C 396, 19.12.1998, p. 13 and O] C 247, 31.8.1999, p. 28. () O] C 138, 18.5.1999, p. 1. (*) Opinion of the European Parliament of 15 April 1999 (O] C 219, 30.7.1999, p. 409), Council Common Position of 13 September 1999 (O] C 317, 4.11.1999, p. 12) and Decision of the European Parliament of 2 December 1999 (not yet published in the Official Journal) and Council Decision of 16 December 1999. () O] L 33, 4.2.1997, p. 24. (4 Around 18 million transit operations are carried out in the European Union per year and the development of the new computerised Transit system represents 23 % of the total budget of Customs 2000; however, the Report on the implementation of the Programme states that there have been considerable delays in the computerisa- tion of the Transit system; (5) A high level of training, of equivalent quality throughout the Community, is needed to guarantee the success of this programme; in order to increase the consistency of Community work and make customs operations in the Community more uniform and efficient, vocational training for Member State customs officials along the lines of that instituted under the Matthaeus programme set up by Council Decision 91/341/EEC of 20 June 1991 (°) should be developed within the Customs 2000 programme; (6) To coordinate Community action to assist national authorities to improve their customs operations in the context of the internal market, it is essential to have a unified approach to the conduct of these operations; (7)  The best way of guaranteeing this unified approach is to integrate all measures concerning working methods, computerisation and the training of customs officials within a single legal instrument, and finance them by means of a single budget heading; (8)  Such an integrated approach will guarantee not only the necessary budgetary transparency for the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission but also the transparency of European customs policy as a whole; (9)  The fight against fraud and the correct functioning of the sector are the priorities in the implementation of the programme; () O] L 187, 13.7.1991, p. 41.