Evaluation of the industrial and agricultural autonomous tariff suspensions and quotas scheme
Full official title
Proposal for the evaluation of the Communication from the Commission concerning autonomous tariff suspensions and quotas (2011/C 363/02) and related base Council Regulations (EU) 2021/2283, 1388/2013, 2021/2278 and 1387/2013.closed Open for answers from 10 Sep 2026 to 8 Oct 2026. Answer on the Commission's site. Topics: Customs.
What the Commission proposes
The European Commission has published a call for evidence to evaluate the autonomous tariff suspensions and quotas (ATSQ) scheme for industrial and agricultural goods. The evaluation will assess whether the scheme remains fit for purpose and continues to meet its core objectives of stimulating EU economic activity, boosting business competitiveness, and modernising production structures. It aims to prepare a revision to streamline administrative arrangements, clarify requirements for granting tariff relief, reduce the frequency of legal updates, and leverage digitalisation. The initiative covers the period since the last evaluation in 2013, with work scheduled to start in Q3-2026 and conclude in Q1-2027.
- The evaluation covers autonomous tariff suspensions and quotas, which provide temporary tariff relief on imports of raw materials, semi-finished goods, or components unavailable in sufficient quantities in the EU.
- In 2025, imports under the scheme represented approximately EUR 35.5 billion worth of goods and generated an estimated EUR 1.6 billion in duty savings for EU producers.
- The evaluation will assess the scheme against five standard criteria: effectiveness, efficiency, relevance, coherence, and EU added value.
- The findings will feed into a planned revision under the regulatory deep cleaning action plan to streamline administrative procedures and lower compliance costs.
- Specific areas under review include requirements to grant tariff relief, the frequency of regular legal updates, and the application and assessment process.
- The initiative is led by DG TAXUD (Unit B.5) and is scheduled to run from Q3-2026 to Q1-2027, following an external study conducted between October 2024 and April 2026.
Affected, as named in the text: EU businesses; EU producers; SMEs; businesses using the scheme; businesses involved all along the supply chain; business associations; customs authorities in the 27 EU Member States; Enterprise Europe Network members.
What is asked: The Commission invites feedback on the main challenges companies face under ATSQs, whether targeted duty relief on production inputs increases EU competitiveness, the costs for businesses to apply for, object to, and monitor measures, specific simplification measures to reduce administrative burdens while preserving policy objectives, potential incentives for EU producers to diversify sourcing of inputs, and any other relevant topics.
Summary written from 11 passages of the Commission document by gemini-3.8-flash-low on 5 Oct 2026; cached and shared by every organisation.
Dossier summary from the portal
The Commission will conduct a fully-fledged evaluation of the passed implementation of the autonomous tariff suspension and quota scheme, assessing to which extent the objectives set in Communication 2011/C 36/02 were achieved and if the scheme is still fit-for-purpose.
Commission documents: Proposal for the evaluation of the Communication from the Commission... (EN, 4 pages).
Who has already answered
5 submissions in the snapshot (5 from organisations), portal total 5. Feedback list on the portal.
5 of 5 organisation submissions analysed; the model reads them as: supports 1 wants changes 3 1 held back for review (low confidence).
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- Maintain the procedure as it is agile and useful.
The procedure is agile and provides a necessary tool in a context of global trade.
- Maintain the procedure as it is agile and useful.
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- Establish a group of experts to analyze suspension requests before they are made public.
Before making Suspension Requests public, the European Commission should have a group of experts to analyse them and determine whether the request is indeed a 'tariff saving artimaña' or actually refers to technologies or products that cannot actually be obtained or manufactured in Europe.
machine translation by the Commission, original in ES - Utilize artificial intelligence as an aid for the initial analysis of application veracity.
AI can be a good ally for this first analysis of the veracity of the application.
machine translation by the Commission, original in ES
- Establish a group of experts to analyze suspension requests before they are made public.
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- Address the challenges regarding commercially sensitive data requirements that may conflict with EU competition rules.
Some of the information requested may be commercially sensitive, which raises difficulties for undertakings wishing to meet the Commission’s expectations while ensuring full compliance with EU competition rules, in particular Article 101 TFEU.
machine translation by the Commission, original in FR - Maintain a clear distinction between autonomous tariff suspensions and measures adopted in the context of EU-US trade relations.
In that regard, a clear distinction should be drawn between autonomous tariff suspensions and measures adopted in the context of EU-US trade relations.
machine translation by the Commission, original in FR
- Address the challenges regarding commercially sensitive data requirements that may conflict with EU competition rules.
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- Address the long blocking periods of 10 working days for new quotas to avoid unnecessary risks for importers.
Long blocking periods of 10 working days in the case of new quotas. This creates unnecessary risks for the importer, who has to wait for the customs duties to be paid and may then have imported quantities that he might not have imported otherwise, if he knew that the quota was exhausted.
machine translation by the Commission, original in SV
- Address the long blocking periods of 10 working days for new quotas to avoid unnecessary risks for importers.
Who met the cabinets on the subject
60 meetings by subject similarity, approximate
subject match, approximate The top 60 cabinet meetings by similarity (the list stops at 60) whose recorded subject is close to this consultation's title and summary (embedding similarity at 0.45 or more, cached from the nightly map). Generic subjects such as "exchange of views on EU regulation" also pass, so read this as a lead, not a finding. Source: Commission meetings file, portal.
| Date | Cabinet | Interest representative | Subject as recorded |
|---|---|---|---|
| 19 Mar 2025 | Executive Vice-President Stéphane Séjourné | Alliance du Commerce (Trade unions and professional associations); CLAI (Professional consultancies) | Le futur de la directive des délais de paiements, les tarifs et seuils douaniers (avec de nombreuses tractations politiques entre le Conseil, le Parlement et la Commission), ou encore les grands enjeux de simplification (Omnibus). |
| 13 Feb 2025 | Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra | eBay EU liaison office (Companies & groups) | Discussion on the implementation and functioning of Council Directive (EU) 2021/514 ‘DAC7’ |
| 24 Mar 2025 | Executive Vice-President Stéphane Séjourné | NKT A/S (Companies & groups) | Regulatory burden-Omnibus Packet and Clean Industrial Deal. |
| 4 Dec 2024 | Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis | Global Counsel Limited | priorities for current mandate; simplification |
| 8 May 2026 | Commissioner Christophe Hansen | AIM - European Brands Association (Trade and business associations) | The revision of the Directive on Unfair Trade Practices (UTPs) |
| 5 Jun 2025 | Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis | Independent Retail Europe (formerly UGAL - Union of Groups of Independent Retailers of Europe) (Trade and business associations) | The Commission's implementation and simplification agenda |
| 14 Sep 2026 | Commissioner Jessika Roswall | Bundesverband der Deutschen Industrie e.V. (Trade and business associations) | BDI-Proposal: European regulation establishing uniform European administrative procedural rules for permitting and notification procedures |
| 8 Jun 2026 | Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič | EuroCommerce (Trade and business associations); Zalando SE (Companies & groups); SEV - Hellenic Federation of Enterprises (Trade and business associations); BUSINESSEUROPE (Trade and business associations); Association of European Public Postal Operators (Trade and business associations); Federation of the European Sporting Goods Industry (Trade and business associations); ECTU - European Shippers' Council (Trade and business associations); American Chamber of Commerce to the European Union (Trade and business associations); eBay EU liaison office (Companies & groups); Ecommerce Europe (Trade and business associations); European Ceramic Industry Association (Trade and business associations); CLECAT - European Association for Forwarding, Transport, Logistic and Customs Services (Trade and business associations); Bureau Européen des Unions de Consommateurs (Non-governmental organisations, platforms and networks and similar); INDUSTRIA DE DISEÑO TEXTIL, S.A. (Companies & groups); EUROCHAMBRES - Association of European Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Trade and business associations); A.P. Møller - Mærsk A/S (Companies & groups); European Shipowners | ECSA (Trade and business associations); European Express Association (Trade and business associations) | Implementation dialogue on customs legislation |
| 4 Apr 2025 | Executive Vice-President Stéphane Séjourné | LA POSTE (Companies & groups) | Régulation des services postaux, réforme du code douanier, future stratégie sur le marché intérieur. |
| 26 May 2026 | Executive Vice-President Stéphane Séjourné | BUSINESSEUROPE (Trade and business associations) | Review of the EU ETS Directive |
| 5 Jun 2025 | Commissioner Piotr Serafin | Centre for European Reform (Think tanks and research institutions) | Challenges and priorities of the current mandate |
| 18 Mar 2025 | Executive Vice-President Stéphane Séjourné | Vereinigung der österreichischen Industrie - Industriellenvereinigung (Trade and business associations) | Regulatory burden (including omnibus) and Clean Industrial Deal |
| 11 Sep 2025 | Executive Vice-President Henna Virkkunen | European Banking Federation (Trade and business associations) | Simplification agenda of the Commission |
| 31 Jan 2025 | Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis | SMEunited aisbl (Trade and business associations) | Simplification agenda of the Commission |
| 16 Sep 2026 | Commissioner Maria Luís Albuquerque | Vereinigung Baden-Württembergische Wertpapierbörse e.V. (Companies & groups) | Exchange of views on the EU Market Infrastructure and Supervisory Package, including the DLT Pilot Regime |
| 3 Jun 2025 | Commissioner Jessika Roswall | Bundesverband der Deutschen Industrie e.V. (Trade and business associations) | Upcoming revision of the REACH Regulation |
| 28 May 2025 | President Ursula von der Leyen | Bundesverband der Deutschen Industrie e.V. (Trade and business associations) | Meeting on the imposition of tariffs by the U.S |
| 2 Apr 2025 | Executive Vice-President Stéphane Séjourné | European Thermal Paper Association (Trade and business associations) | Concerns and priorities in relation to trade and chemical regulations |
| 17 Sep 2025 | Commissioner Michael McGrath | European DIGITAL SME Alliance (Trade and business associations) | Exchange of views on the forthcoming 28th regime, Digital Fairness Act and simplification agenda |
| 26 Feb 2026 | Executive Vice-President Stéphane Séjourné | EUROPEAN TRADE UNION CONFEDERATION (Trade unions and professional associations) | Exchange of views on the upcoming revision of the Public Procurement Directives |
| 4 Nov 2025 | Executive Vice-President Stéphane Séjourné | European Federation of Public Service Unions (Trade unions and professional associations) | Exchange of views on the upcoming revision of the Public Procurement Directives |
| 21 Oct 2025 | Executive Vice-President Stéphane Séjourné | EUROPEAN TRADE UNION CONFEDERATION (Trade unions and professional associations) | Exchange of views on the upcoming revision of the Public Procurement Directives |
| 19 Feb 2025 | Commissioner Maria Luís Albuquerque | Optiver (Companies & groups) | Exchange with Optiver on Regulation (EU) 2019/2033 (IFR) |
| 17 Dec 2025 | Executive Vice-President Stéphane Séjourné | "Business for CBAM Coalition" (Trade and business associations) | Exchange of views on the revision of the CBAM Regulation |
| 7 Mar 2025 | Commissioner Maria Luís Albuquerque | Fundacja na rzecz innowacji finansowych FinTech Poland | • FIDA • Payment Service Directive |
| 19 Jun 2025 | Executive Vice-President Stéphane Séjourné | Marcegaglia Carbon Steel SPA (Companies & groups); GravitHy (Companies & groups) | • Compétitivité : CID • Échanges sur les Omnibus de Simplification • Échanges sur les futures relations douanières USA - UE • Dialogue stratégique et transport • Plan sur l’acier |
| 15 Dec 2025 | Executive Vice-President Stéphane Séjourné | Orgalim - Europe's Technology Industries (Trade and business associations) | Exchange of views on the Industrial Accelerator Act (IAA) and reform of Public Procurement Directives |
| 8 Jan 2025 | Executive Vice-President Roxana Mînzatu | European Social Insurance Platform AISBL (Non-governmental organisations, platforms and networks and similar) | Introduction beginning of the mandate |
| 4 Apr 2025 | Executive Vice-President Stéphane Séjourné | AIR LIQUIDE (Companies & groups) | Projets de décarbonation de l’entreprise et contexte de tensions douanières |
| 25 Sep 2026 | President Ursula von der Leyen | Stichting Sustainable Finance Lab (Think tanks and research institutions) | 28th regime and EU Inc proposal |
Showing 30 of 60.