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On 18 February 2020, the Economic and Financial Affairs Council revised the EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes. By blacklisting certain countries, the EU aims to promote good tax governance at the global level. The list includes jurisdictions that either have not engaged …

The European Commission announced that it will adopt a new action plan to fight tax evasion in the second quarter of 2020. The Commission opened a public consultation for this purpose. The Action Plan will not only include key initiatives to tackle tax evasion and …

In a working paper published in January 2020, the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW) and the ifo Institute in Munich, Germany elucidate that the main reason for the EU’s large trade surplus with itself is apparently large-scale VAT fraud. By applying forensic accounting …

In February 2020, the Council adopted new legislative measures to combat cross-border VAT fraud caused by the fraudulent behaviour of some businesses in the area of cross-border e-commerce. The reform will introduce obligations for payment service providers, e.g., banks, to keep sufficiently detailed records and …

On 12 February 2020, the Commission started infringement proceedings against eight Member States for not having transposed the 5th Anti-Money Laundering Directive (Directive (EU) 2018/843; see also eucrim 2/2018, pp. 93-94). The Commission sent letters of formal notice to Cyprus, Hungary, the …

On 12 February 2020, the Commission published the roadmap “towards a new comprehensive approach to preventing and combating money laundering and terrorism financing.” The roadmap launched a public consultation on possible ways to overhaul current EU AML/CFT legislation. It follows the AML package presented by …

Authorities still face challenges in the AML/CFT supervision of banks. Measures to correct deficiencies in banks’ anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) systems and controls should be more dissuasive. These are one of the main conclusions of the European Banking Authority’s (EBA) …

On 19 February 2020, the EP’s Budgetary Control Committee (CONT) voted on the discharge report prepared by MEP Monika Hohlmeier (EPP, DE). By a 20 to 4 vote, the committee members voted in favour of granting discharge of the Commission’s accounts for 2018 (corresponding to …

In January 2020, OLAF concluded investigations against a Dutch company which revealed a fraud scheme against EU money for development and humanitarian aid as well as corruption. A Dutch company had won a large EU-funded contract managed by the Mauritanian authorities for the removal of …

On 30 March 2020, the European Commission issued practical guidance on implementation of the temporary restriction on non-essential travel to the EU. The ban pursuant to the Schengen Borders Code was outlined in a Commission Communication of 16 March 2020. The guidance paper issued now …