On request of the Commission, the contractor shall conduct studies and comparative analyses on various taxation and customs issues. The topics to be covered and the delivery date are determined by the Commission case-by-case following a request for service sent to the contractor.

The taxation-related topics to be examined are related either to the analysis of fiscal aspects of the Commission work programme or to important tax developments on the national, European and international level.

The customs-related topics to be examined are related either to analysing the existing or expected impact of EU customs policy and legislation, to their practical implementation in Member States, or with a view to proposing new policy. They may relate to the interaction between customs policy and implementation of customs measures in the enforcement of other policies (such as agriculture, health and safety, environment).

At EU level, these topics may relate to all activities of the Commission in the field of taxation and customs union, and examples of studies can be found on the following Web link:

http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/common/about/welcome/index_en.htm

The requested information can take various forms ranging from answering specific questions and carrying out data analysis to conducting in-depth studies. The analysis may involve detailed legal and/or economic assessment of national tax and/or customs practice in the Member States with respect to existing or planned European tax and/or customs legislation or other initiatives.