21/03/2019 (Agence Europe) – On Thursday, 21 February, representatives from the European Parliament and the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the EU reached a political agreement in principle on the 'Fiscalis' programme for the 2021–2027 period, which aims to encourage cooperation among EU Member States’ tax authorities (see EUROPE 12037/15). The agreement was already within reach at the end of February (see EUROPE 12199/16) but still required the approval of the Member States’ permanent representatives (Coreper), according to a European source. The agreement moreover provides for a list of priority measures on which national tax authorities will be expected work in order to combat tax evasion and fraud and takes up the Parliament’s proposal to encourage the implementation of specific measures with the participation of tax administrations in the least-developed non-EU countries. The budgetary aspects still need to be settled during the horizontal negotiations on the multiannual financial framework for 2021–2027. (MF)