Greece’s Ministry of National Economy and Finance reported on a meeting with European Chief Prosecutor Laura Kövesi and senior European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) representatives, together with Greece’s Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE), focused on strengthening cooperation to tackle customs and tax fraud, including VAT fraud. The authorities also presented Customs NextGEN, a multi-year programme to modernise and reinforce Greek customs. Customs NextGEN milestones set out through 2029 include integrating the General Directorate of SDOE into AADE within October 2025, expanding the use of Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) status and additional simplifications, and establishing a Customs Document Control Centre in Thessaloniki to integrate document-control processes for 40 customs offices nationwide by June 2026. Further measures include a digital surveillance system for trucks, containers and vehicles crossing borders during 2026, a container-targeting hub at the Port of Piraeus by September 2026 in cooperation with the UK’s HM Revenue and Customs and UK Border Force, and a 2026–2029 reform and upgrade of the national customs IT system to fully digitise customs procedures in line with the Union Customs Code (UCC). Funding cited included EUR 80 million already allocated from the Recovery and Resilience Facility for the border customs digital monitoring project, plus an additional EUR 203 million to be invested over the next four years, taking total Customs NextGEN funding to more than EUR 280 million, with allocations up to 2027 including EUR 125 million for around 1,100 additional staff, EUR 40 million for eight cargo X-ray systems, EUR 20 million for two X-ray systems for freight trains, and EUR 18 million for a new customs information system. Operational cooperation topics discussed with EPPO included improving the detection and reporting of customs and VAT fraud cases using advanced risk-analysis tools and cross-border data exchange, assigning specialised financial investigators and customs officials to support EPPO investigations in Greece, seconding national experts to EPPO to strengthen interoperability, enabling EPPO access to the EUROFISC information network, and pay equalisation for NEDPAs (secretaries and financial investigators) serving in EPPO’s Athens office.
Ministry of National Economy and Finance (Greece)2025-10-01
Greece’s Ministry of National Economy and Finance outlines Customs NextGEN and closer European Public Prosecutor’s Office cooperation on customs and VAT fraud
Greece’s Ministry of National Economy and Finance, with the European Public Prosecutor’s Office and Greece’s Independent Authority for Public Revenue, aims to combat customs and tax fraud, including VAT fraud. The Customs NextGEN programme, funded with over EUR 280 million, will modernise Greek customs by 2029 with digital surveillance, a container-targeting hub, and a fully digitised customs IT system. Discussions with EPPO also covered improving fraud detection and reporting, assigning specialised investigators, and enhancing data exchange and interoperability.