Romanian Finance Minister Eugen Orlando Teodorovici, currently holding the Presidency of the ECOFIN Council, criticised the European Commission's inaction on VAT carousel fraud on Friday 17 May.
The item was added to the ministerial breakfast agenda at the Ecofin Council at the request of the European Commissioner for Taxation, Pierre Moscovici (see EUROPE 12256/4).
Asked at a press conference about the results of the discussions between the ministers by a journalist from Correctiv, who last week revealed the extent of VAT carousel fraud in the European Union (see EUROPE 12250/14), the minister did not mince his words.
“I’m trying to remember if there was some push from Commissioner Moscovici but if there is any push I’m wondering why? Why he didn’t do it at the begin of the mandate of the current Commission”, he said. He added: “This is a real problem and we are waiting for the next Commission to solve the issue.”
A European Commission official recalled that in 2017 the European Commission had proposed a definitive VAT system for the taxation of trade between Member States (see EUROPE 11876/15). The proposal aims to extend to cross-border transactions the tax rules under which the supplier of goods collects VAT, which would allow Member States to better combat carousel fraud.
In the EU Council, negotiations on the text are at a standstill. Germany is not in favour of it, nor have the other Member States shown much enthusiasm. (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)