Sittings · Document

Report (2024/2083(INI)) 2025-04-30

Protection of the European Union’s financial interests – combating fraud – annual report 2023

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30.4.2025 A10-0049/2

Amendment 2

Pasquale Tridico, Rudi Kennes

on behalf of The Left Group

Report A10-0049/2025

Gilles Boyer

Protection of the European Union’s financial interests – combating fraud – annual report 2023

(2024/2083(INI))

Motion for a resolution

Recital F a (new)

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

Fa. whereas a systematic reduction of the VAT gap would strengthen the protection of the Union’s financial interests, enhance tax fairness and trust in fiscal systems, contribute to the sustainability of public finances, and support economic cohesion among Member States, particularly in times of budgetary pressure;

Or. en

30.4.2025 A10-0049/3

Amendment 3

Pasquale Tridico, Rudi Kennes

on behalf of The Left Group

Report A10-0049/2025

Gilles Boyer

Protection of the European Union’s financial interests – combating fraud – annual report 2023

(2024/2083(INI))

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 24 a (new)

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

24a. Stresses that the lack of effective harmonisation of VAT rules in sectors particularly exposed to fraud, such as the automotive, e-commerce and energy sectors, undermines the protection of the Union’s financial interests, generates unfair tax competition, results in lost revenue for the EU budget and increases administrative costs for the Member States; calls on the Commission to assess the cost of non-Europe in the absence of a harmonised VAT system, with a specific focus on disparities in tax regimes and their consequences for the single market and the effectiveness of the Union’s own resources system;

Or. en

30.4.2025 A10-0049/4

Amendment 4

Pasquale Tridico, Rudi Kennes

on behalf of The Left Group

Report A10-0049/2025

Gilles Boyer

Protection of the European Union’s financial interests – combating fraud – annual report 2023

(2024/2083(INI))

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 26 a (new)

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

26a. Notes that the absence of disaggregated regional and sectoral data on the VAT gap prevents the identification of the areas most at risk of fraud and evasion; calls on the Commission to introduce a harmonised system for the measurement of the VAT gap that includes territorial and sectoral dimensions, thereby enabling the development of anti-fraud strategies that are more firmly grounded in evidence and more targeted;

Or. en

30.4.2025 A10-0049/5

Amendment 5

Pasquale Tridico, Rudi Kennes

on behalf of The Left Group

Report A10-0049/2025

Gilles Boyer

Protection of the European Union’s financial interests – combating fraud – annual report 2023

(2024/2083(INI))

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 27 a (new)

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

27a. Stresses that the fragmentation of IT systems among national tax administrations hinders the effectiveness of the fight against VAT fraud and limits the potential for synergies between national and EU authorities;

Or. en

30.4.2025 A10-0049/6

Amendment 6

Rudi Kennes

on behalf of The Left Group

Report A10-0049/2025

Gilles Boyer

Protection of the European Union’s financial interests – combating fraud – annual report 2023

(2024/2083(INI))

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 36

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

36. Notes that civil society organisations are an essential component of a vibrant democratic society, ensuring the broad coverage of diverse views in public debates; recognises that these organisations may receive Union funds to support their work in contributing to democratic dialogue and public engagement; emphasises that transparency in stakeholder meetings is fundamental to democratic integrity and should apply equally to all entities engaging with EU institutions; stresses that clear documentation and disclosure of such interactions strengthens public trust and democratic accountability; stresses that lobbying should be transparent, with full disclosure of all parties involved; takes notes of the allegations that the Commission subsidises NGOs to influence Members of the European Parliament; stresses that, if their existence is confirmed, such practices could distort policy discussions and contravene the principle of separation of powers and should therefore be ended; calls on the ECA to audit the programmes concerned and give its recommendations; expects the future ECA report to bring clarity on these issues; recalls that the ECA asked, in special report 05/202429 , for more efforts to be made to improve checks on the ground; notes with concern the ECA’s observation that lobbyists can choose to which category they belong, regardless of their legal form, to avoid disclosing financial information; notes that the EU is one of the largest global funders of civil society organisations; underlines the need for the EU Transparency Register Secretariat to enhance its systematic checks of the self-declarations of entities declaring themselves to be ‘NGOs, platforms, networks and similar’; observes that such systematic checks could be based on a set of criteria, including non-profit status, objectives relating to public benefit, and independence, to strengthen the trust in all entities registered in the EU Transparency Register, and should be supported by robust requirements for accountability and transparency;

36. Notes that civil society organisations are an essential component of a vibrant democratic society, ensuring the broad coverage of diverse views in public debates; recognises that these organisations may receive Union funds to support their work in contributing to democratic dialogue and public engagement; emphasises that transparency in all stakeholder meetings is fundamental to democratic integrity and should apply equally to all entities engaging with EU institutions; stresses that clear documentation and disclosure of such interactions strengthens public trust and democratic accountability; stresses that lobbying should be transparent, with full disclosure of all parties involved; notes that there have been allegations from some members of the Budgetary Control Committee that grant agreements concluded by the Commission included detailed lobbying activities which could be interpreted as potentially interfering with internal decision-making in the EU institutions, but recalls that the role of civil society in advocacy is key to implementing Treaty provisions, in particular Article 11 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU), and that the very idea behind Union funding for civil society organisations is to enable them to sustain regular dialogue with the EU institutions and ensure that a diversity of views, as opposed to purely commercial interests, is represented in EU decision-making procedures; recalls that the ECA asked, in special report 05/202429, for more efforts to be made to improve checks on the ground; notes with concern the ECA’s observation that lobbyists can choose to which category they belong, regardless of their legal form, to avoid disclosing financial information; underlines the need for the EU Transparency Register Secretariat to enhance its systematic checks of the self-declarations of entities; observes that such systematic checks could be based on a set of criteria to strengthen the trust in all entities registered in the EU Transparency Register, and should be supported by robust requirements for accountability and transparency;

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29 ECA special report 05/2024 of 17 April 2024 entitled ‘EU Transparency Register – provides useful but limited information on lobbying activities’.

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