Treaty of Rome

Member states agreed to abolish customs duties and quotas between themselves, adopt a common external tariff and allow free movement of goods, workers, services and capital, with common competition, agriculture and transport policies. The customs union was completed on July 1, 1968, ahead of schedule. Renamed the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union in 2009, its free movement and competition rules bind all 27 member states today.

The Treaty of Rome is why goods move between EU countries without customs declarations or duties, allowing one EU warehouse to serve customers in 27 countries. A 3PL in the Netherlands can ship to Spain or Poland with no border formalities, while a shipment to the UK or Switzerland needs full customs clearance. Its competition rules, now Articles 101 and 102 TFEU, also govern logistics arrangements such as exclusive distribution deals and carrier cooperation agreements.

• EEC Customs Union1968 · Six EEC states drop internal duties and share a tariff
• EU Single Market1993 · Goods cross EU internal borders without customs checks
• Marshall Plan1948–1952 · US aid of about $13 billion rebuilds Western Europe

• Union Customs Code (UCC)2013, applied 2016 · EU's core customs law for imports, exports and transit
• Schengen Agreement1985, applied 1995 · European pact abolishing internal border checks
• EU VAT E-Commerce Package2021 · 2021 EU VAT rules for online sales and imports

1. EUR-Lex summary: Treaty of Rome (EEC) eur-lex.europa.eu