Report from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions. Final evaluation of the Fiscalis 2013 programme

The Fiscalis 2013 programme was established by Decision 1482/2007/EC as a multiannual Community action programme to improve the operation of the taxation systems in the internal market. It was the fourth in the series of cooperation programmes launched following the creation of the European single market in 1993. The abolition of physical and tax controls on goods crossing the European Union’s internal borders created an urgent need to foster intensive cooperation between the tax administrations.

The subsequent programme iterations evolved over time, aiming ultimately to improve the operation of the taxation systems in the internal market. Well-functioning taxation systems in the internal market are to be understood, as suggested by the legislator and interpreted by the evaluation, as national financial interests protected against tax evasion and avoidance, the market protected from unfair competition, and administrative burdens on administrations and taxpayers reduced.

In Fiscalis 2013, this general objective was to be achieved through effective, efficient and uniform application of the EU tax law as well as efficient and effective information exchange, administrative cooperation and sharing of good administrative practice in the areas of VAT, excise duties on alcohol and tobacco products, as well as taxes on energy products and electricity and direct taxes.

In compliance with Article 19(1) of the programme’s Decision, the European Commission designed and contracted the final evaluation of the programme to an external consultant. The evaluation study was carried out by Ramboll Management Consulting AS, assisted in the process by the steering group composed of the relevant Commission staff and representatives of four participating countries. The present report relies on the findings and judgements as presented in the external evaluation report and validated by the steering group. The report fulfils the obligation of Article 19 (3b) to submit a final evaluation report to the European Parliament and the Council.

The evaluation covered the entire duration of the programme (years 2008-2013) and all types of activities. Given the increasing emphasis on efficiency of EU expenditure and for the sake of proportional analysis, the evaluation paid particular attention to the IT systems funded by the programme, whose effective functioning was considered essential to the overall success of the Fiscalis programme.

• Primary Source

EUR-Lex: COM(2014)745: Follow the progress of this report through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2014:745:FIN

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