On Tuesday 3 July, the European Parliament adopted by a comfortable majority (568 votes to 56, with 56 abstentions) the report by Roberts Zīle (ECR, Latvia) on the proposed regulation on administrative cooperation in the fight against VAT fraud.
The changes proposed by Parliament - which is only consulted in taxation matters - aim to improve the balance between the need for a better circulation of information between the EU and the national authorities to tackle VAT fraud and the protection of privacy. The MEPs also recommend a distribution of information in both directions between Eurofisc and Europol.
Compared to the vote in committee on 19 June, the text adopted clarifies the provisions on the involvement of investigators in a tax control in a member state other than their country of origin.
In such cases, it provides for investigators to have access to the same information, documents and premises and, to the extent permitted by the legislation of the member state in question, the option directly to interview the persons concerned to improve the fight against VAT fraud – which chimes with the stance adopted by the member states.
Readers may recall that the 'Ecofin' Council reached an agreement in principle on the text (see EUROPE 12047) on 22 June. The regulation may now be adopted without any further discussions. (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)