On Friday 8 June, the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU presented a new compromise text on administrative cooperation and the fight against VAT fraud (see EUROPE 11680).
The aim is a general approach on the proposed regulation at the forthcoming 'Economic and Financial Affairs' Council.
At the most recent 'Ecofin' Council in May (see EUROPE 12027), the member states were very close to an agreement, but the French minister, Bruno Le Maire, felt that an extra month was needed to clarify the interpretation of the provisions on the involvement of officials in the event of a tax control in a member state other than their country of origin.
This is what the Presidency has aimed to do, by providing a few targeted amendments to recitals 2 and 13 and to article 7 (4a).
Compared to the version submitted to the ministers (see EUROPE 12024), recital 2 has been reworded as follows: “as the officials of the requesting member states might have better knowledge of the facts and circumstances of the case and where the requested member state has not required officials from the requesting member states, the officials of the latter should be able to be present during the administrative enquiry insofar as conditions under national law of the requested member state for such a presence are met”.
The text also states that in such a case, the officials should have access to the same premises and documents as those of the required requested member state.
Another amendment concerning the processing of personal data has also been made to recital 13, clarifying that the restrictions on the exercise of certain rights, such as the right to oppose the processing of one's personal data, or the right to transparency of information, should be limited, in terms of duration, to what is strictly necessary to avoid compromising the enquiry or reducing the effectiveness of the fight against VAT fraud.
The text still needs the approval of the ambassadors of the member states to the EU (Coreper), before being put before the European ministers on 22 June. (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)