REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS Midterm evaluation of the Fiscalis 2013 programme
Date: 2011-09-05
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU programme, European tax cooperation, customs fraud, direct tax, indirect tax, project evaluation, tax authorities

EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Brussels, 5.9.2011 
COM(2011) 538 final 

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE 
COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE 
COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS 

Midterm evaluation of the Fiscalis 2013 programme 

 
 
 
 
  
 
1. 

CONTEXT 

With the abolition of physical and tax controls on goods crossing the EU’s internal borders, it 
became evident that inconsistencies between the tax systems of the EU Member States risked 
giving  rise  to:  (1)  distortions  of  competition,  (2)  deflection  of  trade  or  (3)  erosion  of  EU 
financial  resources  (greater  fraud  and  tax  evasion).  It  became  necessary  to  foster  intensive 
cooperation  at  all  levels  in  indirect  taxation  administrations  with  a  view  to  improving  the 
functioning of taxation systems in the European Union. This was the direct rationale behind 
the  multi-annual  Community  action  programmes  in  the  field  of  taxation:  Matthaeus-Tax 
established in 1993, Fiscalis (1998-2002), Fiscalis 2003-2007 and Fiscalis 2013.  

Fiscalis 2013 is the latest in this series of Community programmes, which help to ensure the 
proper  functioning  of  the  taxation  systems  in  the  internal  market  by  increasing  cooperation 
between participating countries, their administrations and officials. The programme facilitates 
cooperation  activities  and  processes,  and  the  dissemination  of  knowledge  and  best  practices 
between  the  national  tax  administrations  of  the  Member  States,  candidate  countries  and 
potential  candidates.  These  mainly  take  the  form  of  joint  actions  such  as  seminars  and 
workshops, multilateral controls, project groups, working visits, and training tools. Moreover, 
Fiscalis 2013, which covers the period 2007 to 2013, continues to place particular emphasis 
on IT-supported information exchange systems as the foundation of cooperation between the 
Member  States.  About  70%  of  the  budget  was  spent  on  these  systems.  The  remaining  30% 
was invested in training and cooperation activities for national tax officials. 

Under  Article  19  (1)  of  the  Fiscalis  2013  Decision1  the  programme  is  subject  to  a  midterm 
evaluation carried out by the Commission based on input from the Member States. In order to 
ensure  consistent  methodology  and  coherent  approach  to  the  evaluation,  the  evaluation  was 
contracted out to an external consultant with a specific expertise in carrying out evaluations, 
"Ramboll Management". Commission staff and participating countries have since then guided 
and supported the work of the consultants by means of a Steering Group which met repeatedly 
throughout the course of the project. 

This report, adopted by the Commission, meets the obligation to communicate the results of 
the midterm evaluation to the Council, the European Parliament, the European Economic and 
Social  Committee,  and  the  Committee  of  the  Regions.  The  final  evaluation  report  by  the 
external consultants is available for download at the Europa website of DG TAXUD. 

2. 

THE PURPOSE OF THE EVALUATION 

The midterm evaluation assesses the impacts of the activities carried out under the programme 
from  2008  to  March  2011.  It  also  looks  into  action  taken  in  prior  programmes  in  order  to 
enable a more systemic perspective, taking into account both the development of Fiscalis and 
tax cooperation in the EU in general. 

The evaluation examines the progress made so far in the programming period and the extent 
to which the objectives of the programme have been achieved (effectiveness) at a reasonable 
cost (efficiency). It also analyses whether the objectives correspond to needs in the area of tax 

1 

Decision No 1482/2007/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of 11 December 2007. 

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cooperation (relevance) and the extent to which the programme provides EU added value, i.e. 
whether the programme’s objectives can be better achieved through a Community programme 
than by Member States. 

The objective of the midterm evaluation is both to evaluate the desirability of continuing the 
programme  and  whether  adjustments  to  the  programme  may  be  needed  for  the  remaining 
years  in  terms  of  activity  planning.  The  results  of  the  evaluation  also  feed  into  the  ongoing 
impact assessment on the future Fiscalis 2020 programme2. However, the conclusions in this 
communication are without prejudice to the future decisions that the Commission may take in 
that context. 

3. 

METHODOLOGY 

The  external  consultants  developed  a  detailed  methodology,  closely  following  the  standards 
and guidelines set by the Commission for drafting evaluations. The consultants’ assessment is 
based on findings using several data collection methods (interviews, surveys, quantitative data 
collection  tools,  etc.).  The  data  was  filtered  through  a  comprehensive  set  of  evaluation  and 
judgment criteria which was developed with the assistance of the Steering Group consisting of 
Commission staff and participants from  the national tax administrations. The validity of the 
findings  has  also  been  ensured  through  meetings  with  the  Steering  Group  in  which  the 
findings  of  the  external  consultants  were  discussed  and  commented  on.  Overall,  the 
evaluation  has  benefited  from  high  response  rates  to  the  surveys  distributed  among  tax 
officials in the Member States and the active cooperation of the national Fiscalis coordinators. 

4. 

ASSESSMENT 

The  final  evaluation  report  delivered  by  the  external  consultant  provides  a  thorough  and 
detailed  analysis  of  the  Fiscalis  programme,  including  a  comprehensive  synopsis  of  the 
activities and actions undertaken since 2008. 

Findings 

The  evaluation  shows  that  the  programme  operates  at  very  high  levels  of  efficiency  and 
effectiveness,  and  it  clearly  identifies  its  EU  added  value.  Respondents  to  the  surveys 
indicated their satisfaction with the programme and the actions financed through Fiscalis 2013 
continue  be  relevant  to  the  needs  of  the  stakeholders,  both  in  the  Commission  and  in  the 
national tax administrations. 

The  external  consultants  evaluated  the  management  of  the  programme  very  positively.  The 
report  explicitly  acknowledges  the  steps  taken  to  ensure  increased  value  for  money.  In  this 
context,  it  also  highlights  that  further  improvements  in  the  monitoring  and  the  reporting  of 
activities are possible, although the limited human resources available in both the European 
Commission and the participating countries’ tax administrations for managing the programme 
have been highlighted as a possible constraint in achieving this objective. 

2 

Communication  from  the  Commission.  A  Budget  for  Europe  2020  -  Part  II  -  Policy  Fiches,  COM 
(2011) 500/II of 29 June 2011. 

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The Commission acknowledges the overwhelmingly  positive assessment by all stakeholders 
involved and the conclusions by the external consultants on the considerable EU added value 
of  the  Fiscalis  programme  at  EU  level.  The  Commission  thus  concludes  on  the  general 
desirability of continuing the programme. 

Recommendations for the remaining programming period 

The  recommendations  for  further  improvements  are  based  on  a  thorough  methodology, 
extensive  research,  the  analysis  of  survey  data  and  direct  interviews  with  all  stakeholders 
involved.  The  detailed  recommendations  are  presented  in  the  evaluation.  The  main 
suggestions for even better performance in the remaining years until 2013 are the following: 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

(4) 

(5) 

(6) 

(7) 

(8) 

Give higher priority to cooperation in the field of direct taxation, in particular to fight 
fraud more effectively and efficiently. 

In the future, make it a specific objective of Fiscalis to reduce administrative burdens 
on taxpayers. 

Set up a results-based monitoring and evaluation system. 

Improve  dissemination  and  application  of  knowledge  and  best  practices  in  national 
administrations. 

Explore  the  potential  for  further  improvement  and  development  of  the  value-added 
tax information exchange system (VIES). 

Introduce a dedicated planning, monitoring and reporting system for the organisation 
and follow-up of working visits. 

Involve a larger community of stakeholders. 

Ensure proportionate programme management capacity. 

The Commission generally endorses the recommendations. As a follow up to the project, the 
Commission  will  draw  up  an  action  plan  that  will  respond  to  each  of  the  recommendations 
outlined in the evaluation report and clarify the extent to which they can be implemented for 
the remaining years of activity planning. 

For example, the current Fiscalis 2013 programme already includes activities that contribute 
to reducing administrative burden. Moreover, the proposal for the next programme will take 
up the consultants’ recommendation that reducing administrative burdens should be one of its 
specific objectives. 

Similarly,  introducing  a  monitoring  and  evaluation  system,  as  proposed  by  the  external 
consultants,  will  be  addressed  in  the  implementation  of  the  current  programme.  The 
recommendation  on  involving  of  a  larger  community  of  stakeholders  is  in  line  with  the 
Commission’s internal analysis on this issue. 

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