Cypriot Minister to participate in Berlin ECOFIN meeting

Cypriot Minister of Finance Michalis Sarris is in Germany, where he will participate in the informal session of ECOFIN, to take place on April 20 and 21 in Berlin.

ECOFIN will discuss the quality of public revenues, the combatting of tax evasion, the stability of the financial system and the training of human resources.

According to a Ministry of Finance press release, the German Presidency of the EU has prepared a document titled ”Social Bridges”, according to which the EU Ministers of Finance will discuss the issue of training of human resources, which is a central element of every structural policy aimed at modernising the economies of EU member states.

It says that training is a very important policy for achieving social cohesion and improving employment and social inclusion, since it can be considered a public investment, without creating further destabilisation to public finances.

In relation to the quality of public finances, the Ministers will discuss ways to improve the quality of public finances in EU member states.

On combatting tax evasion, the Ministers will discuss ways to combat fraud in the VAT sector and the voluntary adoption of the proposed measure concerning the system of reverse charges by EU member states.

The Ministry of Finance notes that the most significant benefit of the system of reverse charging is tackling inflow fraud, mock invoices and bankruptcy deceit, while the most important shortcoming is the abolition of collecting VAT at every stage and the transfer of VAT collection to the final stage, where it runs the risk of being lost altogether.

According to the Ministry of Finance, Cyprus is not anticipated to decide the adoption of this measure.

Concerning the stability of the monetary and credit system, the Ministers will discuss the latest developments in EU financial markets, as well as the handling of crises in the sector.