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In
late
2017
the
Court
of
Justice
of
the
European
Union
(
CJEU
)
gave
judgment
in
M.A.S.
and
M.B.
(
Case
C‑42/17
,
known
as
Taricco
II
)
.
In
that
case
it
pointed
out
that
the
member
States
had
to
ensure
that
,
in
the
event
of
serious
VAT
fraud
,
effective
and
deterrent
criminal
sanctions
were
adopted
.
Nevertheless
,
in
the
absence
of
harmonisation
at
EU
level
,
it
was
for
the
member
States
to
adopt
the
applicable
rules
on
the
statutory
limitation
of
criminal
proceedings
in
such
matters
.
This
means
,
in
substance
,
that
while
a
member
State
must
impose
effective
and
deterrent
criminal
sanctions
in
cases
of
serious
VAT
fraud
,
it
is
free
to
take
the
view
,
for
example
,
that
the
statutory
limitation
rules
are
part
of
the
substantive
criminal
law
.
The
CJEU
pointed
out
that
in
such
cases
the
member
States
are
required
to
adhere
to
the
principle
that
offences
and
penalties
must
be
defined
by
law
,
which
corresponds
to
a
fundamental
right
enshrined
in
Article
49
of
the
Charter
of
Fundamental
Rights
,
even
in
a
context
of
impunity
in
a
significant
number
of
serious
VAT
fraud
cases
.
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