Last week at ECOFIN, EU Finance Ministers agreed a new framework to strengthen cooperation between Member States, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), and the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) in the fight against cross-border VAT fraud. The agreed rules will provide EPPO and OLAF with mo
BRUSSELS | 11 MAY 2026
ECOFIN Agrees VAT Fraud Cooperation Framework & Discusses Capital Markets Integration
Last week at ECOFIN, EU Finance Ministers agreed a new framework to strengthen cooperation between Member States, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), and the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) in the fight against cross-border VAT fraud. The agreed rules will provide EPPO and OLAF with more direct access to EU-level VAT information, including data held by Eurofisc, the EU network established to combat VAT fraud. The measures are intended to improve the speed and effectiveness of investigations into complex VAT fraud schemes and to better protect national and EU revenues. The Council underlined that, despite significant progress in recent years, VAT fraud continues to cause substantial losses to public budgets across the EU. The new framework forms part of wider EU efforts to strengthen tax transparency, administrative cooperation, and cross-border enforcement mechanisms in the area of indirect taxation. The European Parliament is expected to adopt its opinion on the file in July 2026. Thereafter, the Council will proceed to formally adopt the new rules and the Regulation will enter into force twenty days after its publication in the Official Journal of the EU. Also at the meeting, the Presidency and the European Commission debriefed ministers on the outcomes of the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting held on 16 April 2026 in Washington DC, in the margins of the IMF and World Bank Spring Meetings. Ministers also held a policy debate on the market integration and supervision package, a central component of the EU’s savings and investments union agenda. The proposed legislation aims to deepen integration of EU capital markets by removing barriers to cross-border investment activities and improving supervisory efficiency, with the objective of mobilising private savings and enhancing EU competitiveness. The package includes proposals to strengthen the role of the European Securities and Markets Authority, including expanded EU-level supervisory responsibilities in certain areas and reforms to its governance arrangements. During the discussion, ministers broadly supported the objectives of the package, while expressing differing views regarding the appropriate degree of supervisory centralisation at EU level, as well as the scope and design of the proposed reforms. Several Member States stressed the importance of reaching agreement on the package before the end of 2026.
CFE Submissions on EU AML Authority Consultations on Customer Due Diligence & Business Relationships Standards
CFE Tax Advisers Europe has submitted two Opinion Statements in response to consultations by the EU Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA) on draft Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) under the Anti-Money Laundering Regulation (AMLR).
The submissions concern draft Standards on:
CFE recommends maintaining a genuinely risk-based approach and allowing proportionate reliance on official registers and traditional verification methods where appropriate. Draft RTS on Business Relationships & Linked Transactions (Article 19(9) AMLR) CFE in this submission highlights:
CFE remains committed to continued engagement with AMLA and other stakeholders throughout the implementation of the EU AML Single Rulebook. We invite you to read the Submissions and remain available for any queries you may have.
EU Institutes Agree Simplification to AI Act Under Omnibus VII Package
The Council of the EU and the European Parliament reached a provisional agreement on 7 May 2026 on proposals to simplify and streamline aspects of the EU Artificial Intelligence Act under the “Omnibus VII” simplification package. The changes aim to reduce administrative burdens, improve legal certainty and support more harmonised implementation of AI rules across the EU, while maintaining safeguards for high-risk AI systems. The agreement delays the application of rules for high-risk AI systems to allow additional time for standards and compliance tools to be developed. The new application dates are 2 December 2027 for stand-alone high-risk AI systems and 2 August 2028 for high-risk AI systems embedded in products. The co-legislators broadly retained the approach proposed by the European Commission. The provisional agreement also introduces a prohibition on AI systems used to generate non-consensual sexual and intimate content or child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Providers claiming exemption from high-risk classification will again be required to register their systems in the EU database for high-risk AI systems. In addition, the strict necessity standard for processing sensitive personal data for bias detection and correction purposes has been reinstated. Further amendments include postponing the deadline for national AI regulatory sandboxes to 2 August 2027 and reducing the implementation period for transparency measures on AI-generated content from six months to three months, with compliance required from 2 December 2026. The agreement also seeks to reduce overlaps between the AI Act and sectoral legislation, including in relation to machinery and medical devices, through mechanisms designed to minimise duplicative compliance obligations. The provisional agreement must now be formally endorsed by the Council and the European Parliament before final adoption following legal and linguistic review.
DG TAXUD Publishes Report on Consultation Concerning VAT Rules for Travel & Tourism Sector
Last week, the European Commission published a summary report on the 2025 public consultation concerning VAT rules applicable to the travel and tourism sector. The consultation, which ran from 24 July to 16 October 2025 and focused on the Tour Operators’ Margin Scheme (TOMS) and VAT rules for passenger transport services, received 244 contributions from 241 stakeholders, primarily businesses and business associations operating in the travel, tourism and passenger transport sectors. CFE Tax Advisers Europe participated in the consultation process and submitted an Opinion Statement calling for substantial reform of the current TOMS framework. The report indicates broad stakeholder support for EU action to modernise the current VAT framework. A majority of respondents considered that the existing TOMS rules no longer ensure VAT neutrality and create significant legal uncertainty and compliance burdens, particularly due to divergent implementation across Member States. Stakeholders also highlighted competitive distortions affecting EU travel agents, especially in relation to non-EU operators and the treatment of business-to-business (B2B) transactions. Similar concerns were raised by CFE in its submission, which argued that the current regime is no longer fit for purpose and undermines neutrality and simplification objectives. Among the potential reforms considered, 80% of respondents supported making TOMS optional for B2B supplies, while many stakeholders favoured simplifying margin calculation rules and clarifying the treatment of in-house services and mixed travel packages. The report also notes support for reviewing the place-of-supply rules applicable to non-EU travel agents, with many respondents favouring taxation in the country of residence of the traveller in order to ensure a more level competitive playing field between EU and non-EU operators. CFE similarly advocated restricting TOMS to business-to-consumer transactions and exploring the development of a One-Stop-Shop mechanism for travel operators. With respect to passenger transport, respondents identified the differing VAT treatment of transport modes and the complexity of place-of-supply rules as major obstacles to a functioning internal market. Many stakeholders supported maintaining or extending zero-rating for international air and maritime passenger transport, while others called for harmonised VAT treatment across transport modes. The report also records support for simplifying rules concerning exemptions for international passenger transport under Articles 148 and 371 of the VAT Directive. The Commission notes in the report that the factual summary report provides only a preliminary overview of stakeholder feedback. A further synopsis report and impact assessment are expected to follow, which will analyse the consultation responses in greater detail and assess potential policy options for reform of VAT rules in the travel and tourism sector.
AE Event to Examine Future of EU Tax Information Exchange Framework & DAC Recast : 12 May 2026
Tomorrow, on 12 May, Accountancy Europe will host an event in Brussels examining the future reform of the EU Directive on Administrative Cooperation (DAC) framework. The event will bring together representatives from the European Commission, Member States, business, academia and the tax profession to discuss the Commission’s planned recast of the DAC legislation and its broader tax simplification agenda. CFE Tax Advisers Europe's Director, Aleksandar Ivanovski, will speak at the event. The DAC framework establishes common EU rules allowing national tax authorities to exchange tax information and cooperate on tackling tax evasion, avoidance and fraud. Since its introduction in 2011, the framework has expanded through several amendments covering areas including financial accounts, cross-border arrangements, digital platform reporting and crypto-assets. The European Commission is now considering how the various DAC regimes can be streamlined and rationalised in order to reduce administrative burdens for both taxpayers and tax administrations. The programme will open with a keynote address by Benjamin Angel, Director for Direct Taxation, Tax Coordination, Economic Analysis and Evaluation at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Taxation and Customs Union (DG TAXUD). A first panel discussion on “Lessons learned from DACs so far” will include contributions from Revenue Ireland, Booking.com, CFE Tax Advisers Europe, Accountancy Europe and the EU Tax Observatory, focusing on the effectiveness of the current framework and possible gaps in the legislation. A second panel on “Designing a future-proof DAC” will consider how simplification, legal certainty and proportionality can be incorporated into a revised framework from the outset. Participants from ETAF, BusinessEurope, Accountancy Europe and the Permanent Representation of Ireland to the EU will discuss the implications of DAC reform for taxpayers, advisers and tax administrations.
The selection of the remitted material has been prepared by: Dr. Aleksandar Ivanovski & Brodie McIntosh
Fonte: CFE Tax Advisers Europe. Pubblicazione originale del 2026-05-11.