Directive (EU) 2017/1371 of the European Parliament and of the CouncilShow full title

Article 3 U.K. Fraud affecting the Union's financial interests

1. Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure that fraud affecting the Union's financial interests constitutes a criminal offence when committed intentionally.

2. For the purposes of this Directive, the following shall be regarded as fraud affecting the Union's financial interests:

(a) in respect of non-procurement-related expenditure, any act or omission relating to:

(i)

the use or presentation of false, incorrect or incomplete statements or documents, which has as its effect the misappropriation or wrongful retention of funds or assets from the Union budget or budgets managed by the Union, or on its behalf;

(ii)

non-disclosure of information in violation of a specific obligation, with the same effect; or

(iii)

the misapplication of such funds or assets for purposes other than those for which they were originally granted;

(b) in respect of procurement-related expenditure, at least when committed in order to make an unlawful gain for the perpetrator or another by causing a loss to the Union's financial interests, any act or omission relating to:

(i)

the use or presentation of false, incorrect or incomplete statements or documents, which has as its effect the misappropriation or wrongful retention of funds or assets from the Union budget or budgets managed by the Union, or on its behalf;

(ii)

non-disclosure of information in violation of a specific obligation, with the same effect; or

(iii)

the misapplication of such funds or assets for purposes other than those for which they were originally granted, which damages the Union's financial interests;

(c) in respect of revenue other than revenue arising from VAT own resources referred to in point (d), any act or omission relating to:

(i)

the use or presentation of false, incorrect or incomplete statements or documents, which has as its effect the illegal diminution of the resources of the Union budget or budgets managed by the Union, or on its behalf;

(ii)

non-disclosure of information in violation of a specific obligation, with the same effect; or

(iii)

misapplication of a legally obtained benefit, with the same effect;

(d) in respect of revenue arising from VAT own resources, any act or omission committed in cross-border fraudulent schemes in relation to:

(i)

the use or presentation of false, incorrect or incomplete VAT-related statements or documents, which has as an effect the diminution of the resources of the Union budget;

(ii)

non-disclosure of VAT-related information in violation of a specific obligation, with the same effect; or

(iii)

the presentation of correct VAT-related statements for the purposes of fraudulently disguising the non-payment or wrongful creation of rights to VAT refunds.