FinMIN Eugen Teodorovici: European Comission to support Romania in combating VAT fraud

he European Commission will support Romania in combating VAT fraud, given that the country has a 35.88pct gap in this segment, Finance Minister Eugen Teodorovici announced after Tuesday's meeting with European Commissioner Pierre Moscovici, according to a press release from the Ministry of Public Finance issued for AGERPRES .

During the meeting, Minister Teodorovici presented the main elements of the fiscal-budgetary policy for 2018 and 2019, including the measures taken and envisaged to meet the budget deficit target under the Stability and Growth Pact. The agenda of the talks also featured the VAT fraud situation in Romania, considering the recently published survey by the European Commission according to which the VAT gap is 35.88pct (2016 data). In the context, the two officials agreed that in the area of combating VAT fraud, the European Commission should support Romania in the forthcoming period. 

Another topic discussed by the two officials was the need for Romania to comply with the requirement that the global excise duty on cigarettes should represent at least 60pct of the weighted average retail price of cigarettes released for consumption. 

The meeting with Pierre Moscovici, organized on the sidelines of the ECOFIN Council meeting, was also an opportunity for the Romanian side to present the main economic and financial elements on the agenda of Romania's forthcoming Presidency of the Council of the European Union. 

"The Romanian Presidency of the EU Council will act to deepen the Monetary Economic Union and the Banking Union by reaching an acceptable consensus for both the Eurozone and the non-euro countries. At the same time, we will continue at an accelerated pace the demarches of the previous Presidencies regarding the package of proposals for the future Multiannual Financial Framework of the EU, an important place on the agenda of our Presidency to be played by initiatives such as the Reform Support Program or InvestEU. The Romanian Presidency of the EU Council will also promote the advancement of taxation files, with an emphasis on VAT rate reform. Last but not least, we will be extremely concerned with the field of customs controls, given the need to finance state-of-the-art equipment and the fact that our country is part of a trio of Presidencies that secure 60pct of the EU's land borders. I thank Commissioner Moscovici for the full support granted to Romania, he is a European leader who has always respected his roots and word," Eugen Teodorovici stressed. 

Also during Tuesday's meeting, Commissioner Moscovici accepted Minister Teodorovici's invitation to visit Romania in November this year to discuss the latest details about the organization of the Romanian Presidency at the ECOFIN Council, starting January 2019. 

According to the latest study on VAT collection launched by the European Commission, the amount of VAT losses at EU level stood at 147.1 billion euro in 2016, of which 6.13 billion euro was the loss for the Romanian budget alone, which represents a VAT collection gap of 35.88pct, the highest of all EU member states.