Brussels, 31/08/2012 (Agence Europe) - As Commissioner for Taxation and Customs Union Algirdas Semeta had announced at the Ecofin Council on 10 July (see EUROPE 10654), the European Commission put forward two proposals on 30 August, modified by regulations establishing action programmes on, respectively, customs (Customs 2020) and taxation (Fiscalis 2020), which will take over, for the 2014-2020 period, from the Customs 2013 and Fiscalis 2013 programmes, which come to an end on 31 December.
With respective budgets in current prices for the 2014-2020 period of €234,370,000 (Fiscalis 2020) and €548,080,000 (Customs 2020), the two new programmes will support the cooperation and exchange of information between the tax authorities and between the customs staff of the member states, and also, if necessary, cooperation with the parties concerned. This will especially happen through the strengthening of human networks and the development of competences (good practices and operational know-how), as well as through the strengthening and development of information technology (the services will become true online administrations). The development of information technology should enable member states to better fight against fraud and aggressive tax planning, to increase tax receipts and manage ever more complex trade flows, while at the same time reducing costs.
It should be remembered that the Commission had initially proposed a single programme named Fiscus (see EUROPE 10492) to take over from the Customs 2013 and Fiscalis 2013 programmes, but the member states unanimously decided than they wanted the single programme proposed to be split. The Commission has therefore put forward a modified proposal comprising two distinct legislative texts. It will nevertheless watch to ensure that alignment between the two programmes is maintained. (FG/transl.fl)