(AMSTERDAM) – “The budget rules for countries in the eurozone need to be simpler, more predictable and easier to explain,” said Eurogroup chief Jeroen Dijsselbloem, at an informal meeting of EU finance ministers in Amsterdam Sunday.
Finance ministers from all 28 EU member states discussed the budget rules for eurozone countries at the meeting, which, Mr Dijsselbloem said, had been productive.
High on the agenda for the meeting was the fight against VAT fraud.
The Netherlands, for the EU presidency, was looking to Member States to take more joint action and use innovative methods to combat criminal gangs.
Ministers discussed ways to improve information-sharing and cooperation between the tax authorities of individual member states.
Dutch State Secretary for Finance Eric Wiebes presented IT tools that he said Member States could use to detect VAT fraud at an earlier stage.