英國脫歐的「分手費」金額可能高達€600 億,如果「分手費」的金額可以減半,英
國國會議員Alistair Carmichael 的看法是否可能不同?其看法如果不同,是否影響英
國政府審計人員評估該國政府的營運風險(business risk)。(25 分)
附件:2017 年3 月8 日The Guardian 的新聞
The British government faces a €2bn (£1.7bn) fine for negligence that allowed criminal
gangs to flood European black markets with illegal Chinese goods, EU anti-fraud investigators
have said. The European anti-fraud office (known as Olaf from its French name, Office de Lutte
Anti-Fraude) has recommended the UK pay €1.98bn into the EU budget to compensate for lost
customs duties, as a result of a failure by British customs officials to crack down on criminal
gangs using fake invoices and making false claims about the value of clothes and shoes
imported from China.
Olaf said the fraud was ongoing and pointed out the cost to national exchequers(國庫)
was even greater. France, Germany, Spain and Italy are estimated to have lost a combined
€3.2bn from 2013 to 2016 in VAT revenues, as a result of British failures in handling imports at
its ports.
The €2bn fine and accusations of neglect could stir bad feeling between the UK and the
continent as Britain prepares to embark on negotiations to leave the EU, where dispute has
already broken out over an estimated €60bn Brexit bill. Relations between Britain and some
member states, such as France and Italy, were already strained over trade. The British
government has been in the vanguard(前鋒)of countries defending EU rules that allow
artificially cheap (but legal) Chinese steel into European markets, hurting European jobs and
companies.
(請接第三頁)
107年公務人員特種考試關務人員、
身心障礙人員考試及107年國軍上校
以上軍官轉任公務人員考試試題
全三頁
第三頁
考試別: 關務人員考試
等
別: 三等考試
類
科: 關稅會計
科
目: 審計學
(請接背面)
The EU’s 28 member states belong to a customs union, where a common tariff is levied on
imports from outside the bloc. About 80% of customs duties are used to fund the EU budget.
Anti-fraud investigators said they had repeatedly warned British customs officials about the
scale of the fraud. A spokesperson said: “Despite repeated efforts deployed by Olaf, and in
contrast to the actions taken by several other member states to fight against these fraudsters, the
fraud hub in the UK has continued to grow.”
In one example given by the anti-fraud team, women’s trousers imported from China were
declared in the UK at an average price of €0.91 a kg, although market prices for cotton were
€1.44 a kg, a disparity that failed to raise the alarm for the British. A senior French anti-fraud
investigator said the UK had mostly not responded to requests to trace goods. Bruno Collin, at
the French National Directorate of Intelligence and Customs Investigation, told Politico that his
British counterparts had not made an effort. “UK authorities are not interested at all in
co-operating in this field, probably because the phenomenon does not directly affect them.”
Politicians opposed to Brexit said the findings raised more questions about the
government’s plans to quit the EU’s customs union. “The UK border force is asleep at the
wheel and it’s going to cost the taxpayer billions,” said Alistair Carmichael, a Liberal Democrat
Members of Parliament. “This doesn’t bode well for reckless plans to leave the customs union
and set up border checks for all goods coming into UK.” The decision about whether to fine the
UK will be taken by the European Commission.
Asked whether the UK would pay a fine, Theresa May’s official spokesman said: “We’ve
not received a bill from the European Commission. This report is not a bill. It’s an estimate. We
don’t recognise the figures. HMRC are looking at it now.” The spokesman said the issue was
entirely separate from Brexit negotiations. Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs said it had an
“excellent record in tackling fraud and rule-breaking of all kinds” and was considering Olaf’s
findings and recommendations.