Effective fight against VAT fraud to EU's budget, by mean of criminal law, on Justice Ministers radar - Main contents

Luxembourg (14 October) - On Friday, Justice Ministers discussed two legislative proposals closely linked to one another: the creation of a European public prosecutor and the directive on the fight against fraud to the Union's financial interests. Both texts aim at combatting more effectively, by mean of criminal law, cases of fraud to Union's budget.

"A majority of Member States are in favour of prosecuting serious cross-border VAT fraud at the EU i level, on the basis of the PIF directive. The Presidency is now set to translate today's outcomes into further technical work."

Lucia Žitňanská

Fight against fraud to the Union's financial interests ("PIF" directive)

After the meeting, Minister Lucia Žitňanská, on behalf of the Slovak presidency, said: "A majority of Member States are in favour of prosecuting serious cross-border VAT fraud at the EU level, on the basis of the PIF directive. The Presidency is now set to translate today's outcomes into further technical work."

The aim of the Slovak presidency is to revive trilogue negotiations with the European Parliament with the view of finding a final agreement.

The objective of this directive is to make criminal law enforcement more effective in cases involving the EU’s budget so to deter fraudsters, improve the prosecution and sanctioning of crimes against the EU budget, and facilitate the recovery of misused EU funds.

European Public Prosecutor's Office

The Council reached a provisional agreement on the last set of articles of the regulation which had not been concluded during the previous Presidencies. Those remaining articles relate to the rules on judicial review, the cooperation with third countries and with non-participating member states, and the relations with Eurojust.

For the first time, the Ministers discussed the text of the EPPO regulation in its entirety from the perspective of efficiency and independence, in particular. According to Minister Žitňanská, the debate was "positive", as the Presidency had received the political mandate to continue negotiations with the view of finding a definitive agreement at the December Council.

"The establishment of the EPPO would constitute an important political development, as it would be a new EU body designed to help protect financial interests of the EU in the criminal law area," the Minister said.

The regulation aims at creating a European Public Prosecutor's Office to combat more effectively crimes against the EU's financial interests, in particular those with a cross-border dimension.

Doorstep by Slovak Minister for Justice L. Žitňanská

Press conference following the Justice Council