On September 8, 2015, the Court of Justice of the European Union (the Court) issued its decision in Ivo Taricco and Others, finding that by preventing the imposition of effective and dissuasive penalties in cases of serious VAT fraud, Italian law is liable to affect the financial interests of the European Union. The case concerned the criminal proceedings in Italy against Mr. Taricco and others that arose from a criminal conspiracy to acquire goods VAT free and below market price, thus distorting the market. According to the press release, the Court stated that member states must “counter illegal activities affecting the financial interests of the European Union through effective deterrent measures and, in particular, take the same measures to counter fraud affecting the financial interests of the European Union as they take to counter fraud affecting their own financial interests.” The Court further pointed out that since “the European Union’s budget is financed, inter alia, by revenue from the application of a uniform rate to the harmonised VAT assessment bases, [] there is a direct link between the collection of that revenue and the financial interests of the European Union.” Thus, Italian law would violate Article 325 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) if it allowed a considerable number of cases to “escape criminal punishment because the rules on limitation periods generally prevent the imposition of final judicial decisions” or “if it provided for longer limitation periods in respect of cases of fraud affecting Italy’s financial interests than in respect of those affecting the financial interests of the European Union.”