Developing Interagency Exchanges of Information at the Regional and International Levels
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information exchange, identify any barriers to exchange and address them, and develop new partnerships. Again, information related to money laundering investigations may provide the receiving jurisdictions with the key elements of a possible tax fraud case or verification points in a tax audit. At the regional level, the European Union has witnessed significant developments in channels and tools that enable cross-border interagency cooperation and coordination (see box 4.1 for notable examples of coordination mechanisms within the European Union). BOX 4.1
Regional Cooperation Mechanisms within EU Member States
European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation (Eurojust). Eurojust has the mandate to coordinate investigations of serious cross-border crime in Europe and beyond.a Europol’s Secure Information Exchange Network Application (SIENA). SIENA offers law enforcement a platform for exchanging crime-related information in the European Union (EU) and with its cooperating partners and third parties with whom it has agreements.b European Investigation Order (EIO). An EIO is a judicial decision issued in or validated by a judicial authority in one EU country in order to use investigative measures to gather or use evidence in criminal matters carried out in another EU country.c European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO). The EPPO enables cooperation for investigating, prosecuting, and adjudicating crimes involving the EU budget, such as subsidy fraud and related corruption, as well as cross-border value added tax (VAT) fraud (Wilhelm 2020). Time-bound formal EIO agreements. These agreements include the Standing Committee on Administrative Cooperation (SCAC) exchanges between EU Member States, which can also enable cooperation between agencies. For example, the SCAC Expert Group in the field of VAT–administrative cooperation enables coordination between Member States to exchange views and discuss and agree on the practical implementation of administrative cooperation in the fight against VAT fraud.d Proposed expansion of EU directive. As of May 2022, a proposal had been made to amend the EU directive on administrative cooperation in the field of taxation with respect to the information sharing with relevant law enforcement agencies. A Member State sending information to another Member State for tax purposes should permit the use of the information for other purposes insofar as it is allowed by the legislation of both Member States. The Member State can do this either by permitting the alternative use after a mandatory request of the other Member State or by communicating to all Member States a list of allowed other purposes.e a. European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation (Eurojust), https://www.eurojust.europa.eu/about-us. Recently, the Eurojust channel ensured the coordination of investigations at the request of the Italian authorities in a massive cross-border tax fraud scheme (https://www.eurojust.europa.eu/action-counter-italian-fuel-tax-fraud-worth-almost-eur-1-billion). b. Europol, Secure Information Exchange Network Application (SIENA), https://www.europol.europa.eu/activities-services /services-support/information-exchange/secure-information-exchange-network-application-siena. c. Eurojust, European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation, European Investigation Order, https://www.eurojust .europa.eu/judicial-cooperation/eurojust-role-facilitating-judicial-cooperation-instruments/european-investigation-order -eio#:~:text=The%20European%20Investigation%20Order%20(EIO,apply%20in%20Denmark%20and%20Ireland. d. European Commission, Register of Commission Expert Groups and Other Similar Entities, https://ec.europa.eu/transparency /regexpert/index.cfm?do=groupDetail.groupDetail&groupID=3128&NewSearch=1&NewSearch=1. e. Proposal for a Council Directive amending Directive 2011/16/EU on administrative cooperation in the field of taxation, COM/2020/314 final, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A52020PC0314.
