On Wednesday 12 June, the EU Council of Ministers adopted its position on the proposal updating the investigation procedures of the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), in order to ensure harmonious cooperation between this body and the European Public Prosecutor's Office, which should be operational by the end of 2020.
On Wednesday, EU ambassadors (Coreper) gave a mandate to the Council Presidency to start negotiations with the European Parliament on this issue as soon as Parliament is ready (see EUROPE 12238/15).
VAT fraud. The EU Council's anti-fraud working party examined the case between June 2018 and May 2019. Some of the amendments proposed by the Commission were difficult for Member States to accept. But a compromise was finally found. The final contentious issue was whether OLAF should have a mandate to investigate VAT fraud.
The European Commission supports such a mandate, while a large number of delegations in the EU Council are opposed to it. A compromise has been reached, providing for a limited mandate only in cases of serious VAT fraud (linked to Directive 1371 from 2017 on the fight against fraud).
An investigation into VAT fraud could be opened under the following conditions: - the case concerns acts or omissions related to the territory of two or more Member States; - the case concerns a total damage exceeding €10 million; - one or more Member States may ask OLAF to give their consent to investigate a case of VAT fraud (mainly concerning administrative cooperation cases).
In addition, the EU Council's Legal Service published a contribution concerning OLAF's additional investigations, on which the European Public Prosecutor's Office is also conducting an investigation. The EU Council's Legal Service considers that the obligation on the European Public Prosecutor's Office to justify its objection to OLAF's opening of an additional investigation, if necessary, in order not to jeopardise its own investigations or prosecutions', would unduly restrict the principle of non-duplication, as laid down in Article 101(2) of Regulation 1939/2017 (enhanced cooperation on the European Public Prosecutor's Office).
To read the EU Council's position on this issue: https://bit.ly/2X1JyF9 (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)