Author: Mattia Rossi
Committe: National Institutions Committee
Date: 08/06/2026
The Council of the EU issued a press release on 5 May 2026 announcing that it had provisionally agreed on new rules to strengthen the fight against value added tax (VAT) fraud in the EU by enhancing cooperation between Member States, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) and the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF).
The new framework will provide the EPPO and OLAF with more direct access to key VAT data relating to cross-border commercial transactions, including information held by Eurofisc, the EU’s anti-VAT fraud network.
Cross-border VAT fraud, in particular intra-Community missing trader fraud (often in the form of carousel fraud), is a serious problem in the EU.
The new framework means that the EPPO and OLAF will have the first-hand information they need to launch and support investigations within their remit into suspected cross-border VAT fraud. This will improve coordination between the various actors, speed up investigations and strengthen the EU’s overall capacity to detect and combat VAT fraud that harms the Union’s financial interests. At the same time, it will help create a more level playing field for law-abiding EU businesses.
The new rules take the form of a regulation amending Council Regulation (EU) No 904/2010 on administrative cooperation and combating fraud in the field of VAT.
The measure follows the agreement reached in March last year to make VAT reporting obligations fully digital by 2030 for businesses supplying goods and services to businesses in another EU Member State, which should further support the fight against VAT fraud.
To go into more detail, the key aspects of the regulation are:
– direct access for EPPO and OLAF to European VAT data;
– enhanced role of Eurofisc;
– involvement of non-EPPO member States
The research may focus on VAT identification numbers; intra-UE transactions; VAT-exempt imports; data from CESOP system and information from the central VIES.
Sitography
– Proposal for a Council Regulation of 30 April 2026 amending Regulation (EU) No 904/2010 as regards access by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) and the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) to information on value added tax at Union level.