European Commission unveils its 2025 Work Programme
The European Commission published on Wednesday 12 February its Work Programme for 2025 and annexes for a “Bolder, Simpler, Faster Union”, alongside with a Communication on implementation and simplification. Framed by the mission letters sent by President Ursula von der Leyen to each Commissioner, the Work Programme outlines 51 new initiatives that the European Commission will take in the first year of its mandate. In line with its commitment to reduce administrative burden, the Commission will this year present three series of omnibus texts on sustainability (26 February), on investment simplification (Q1 2025), and on small mid-caps and removal of paper requirements (Q2 2025). As expected, it will also present a horizontal Single Market Strategy (Q2 2025) and will work towards a 28th legal regime to simplify applicable rules, including relevant aspects of tax law. The Work Programme says little about tax. It only confirms the timing for the publication of the results of the evaluation of the Anti-tax Avoidance Directive (ATAD) in Q4 2025. The Commission will also withdraw 37 legislative texts already on the table, either because they are obsolete or because their adoption seems highly unlikely. This is notably the case of the 2011 proposal for a Directive on the taxation of interest and royalty payments, the 2017 proposal to revise the vehicle taxation Directive, the 2018 proposal for a definitive VAT system and the 2020 DAC codification proposal.
EU Finance Ministers meet in Brussels on 18 February
EU Finance Ministers are due to meet on Tuesday 18 February in Brussels for an ECOFIN meeting. On this occasion, the European Commission will be invited to present to Ministers its Competitiveness Compass, before an exchange of views, which will also tackle simplification and improving the business environment in Europe. Ministers will also hold a discussion on the state of play of the economic and financial impact of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and are set to approve Council’s guidelines for the EU’s annual budget for 2026. In addition, the Council will proceed to the traditional update of the EU blacklist of non-cooperative jurisdictions in the field of taxation and will approve the EU terms of reference in view of the G20 Finance Ministers and Central bank Governors meeting on 26-27 February. They should also formally adopt, without discussion, the Directive introducing an electronic VAT exemption certificate.
European Parliament greenlights the ViDA package
The European Parliament gave its final greenlight to the ViDA package by 589 votes to 42 and 10 abstentions, during its Plenary session in Strasbourg on Wednesday 12 February. The package will fully digitalise VAT reporting obligations for cross-border transactions by 2030 with businesses issuing e-invoices for cross-border business-to-business transactions and automatically reporting the data to their tax administration. In November 2024, EU Finance Ministers reached a unanimous political agreement on the ViDA package, after two years of negotiations. The European Parliament, which delivered a non-binding opinion on ViDA in November 2023, was asked to deliver a new opinion due to the substantial differences between the Commission's initial proposal and the text agreed upon by the Member States. The approval of this second opinion opens the door to the formal adoption of the package by the Council and the subsequent publication of the texts in the EU’s Official Journal for their entry into force.
Greece asked to remove its excise duty exemption for tax-free shops at land borders with non-EU countries
The European Commission decided on Wednesday 12 February to send a reasoned opinion to Greece for failing to comply with the Council Directive (EU) 2020/262, laying down the EU rules on general arrangements for excise duty. Greece exempts from excise duty goods which are sold to travellers by tax-free shops located at its land borders with Albania, North Macedonia and Türkiye. Until January 2017, EU legislation allowed Member States which held tax-free shops located outside an airport or port on 1 July 2008 to use such exemptions. Although this is no longer permitted under EU legislation, Greece continues to maintain duty-free shops at its land borders with non-EU countries. Having considered Greece's reply to the letter of formal notice unsatisfactory, the Commission decided to issue a reasoned opinion to Greece, which now has two months to respond and take the necessary measures. Otherwise, the Commission may decide to refer the case to the Court of Justice of the European Union.
FISC mission to Finland and Estonia
Members of the FISC Subcommittee of the European Parliament will travel to Helsinki (Finland) and Tallinn (Estonia) from 25 to 27 February 2025. The delegation, led by second Vice-Chair MEP Regina Doherty (EPP, Ireland), will meet with representatives of key institutions, such as the Ministries of Finances and national parliaments, and stakeholders from the private sector, trade unions, and civil society. The discussions will focus on topical international tax issues and challenges, such as the implementation of the OECD's two-pillar tax reform, the simplification of the tax system and forwarding competitiveness, tax incentives, the situation of cross-border workers, energy taxation, and the implementation of EU Directives.
