Brussels, 04/03/2008 (Agence Europe) - EU finance ministers were unable to come to agreement on Tuesday 4 March on the best ways to combat value added tax (VAT) fraud. Given the sizeable differences between Germany and Austria, on one hand, and all the other member states, on the other, ministers were unable to unanimously adopt the draft conclusions put to them (see EUROPE 9613). Noting that the situation was in an impasse, the Slovenian EU Council Presidency summoned the delegations to a meeting at a later date. Taxation Commissioner László Kovács said they had discussed ways to combat VAT fraud on the basis of the recent Commission communication (EUROPE 9608). He was optimistic, saying there had been agreement to speed up work on traditional measures. The Commission is finally ready to launch a legislative initiative that will reduce from three months to one month the frequency of statements on intra-Community deliveries that companies must present and the maximum times for exchanging information between national tax administrations. Mr Kovács stressed that this was “urgent as large amounts of money are lost every day”. When it comes to other kinds of measures, “we shall wait to have clearer Council guidelines”, the Commissioner said. (M.B.)