On 10 September 2025, the FGV Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence, co-funded by the European Union under the Erasmus+ programme, in partnership with the FGV Centre for Global Law, was honored to welcome Prof. Leonardo de Andrade Costa, Professor at FGV Rio Law and Acting Tax Auditor and Tax Advisor at Superintendência de Tributação da Secretaria de Estado de Fazenda do Rio de Janeiro (SEFAZ-RJ). The class was part of the third edition of the Rio School on Global Governance, Democracy and Human Rights.

The lecture traced a parallel between the European Union’s (EU) Value-Added Tax (VAT) and the dual VAT (CBS/IBS) that Brazil is adopting, presenting the advantages and problems of this consumption tax. In the first part of the class, Prof. Leonardo Costa addressed the economic bases of taxation, revenue statistics from Latin American and OECD countries, and the Consumption Tax Reform in Brazil. For instance, he presented the fragmentation of the consumption tax base in Brazil, which requires a tax reform. Nonetheless, he clarified that the VAT is not a panacea: some disadvantages include the cost of labor not conferring credit, and there is VAT fraud linked to intra-EU trade.

During the second half of the lecture, Prof. Leonardo Costa talked about the overlay of formal integrative structures in light of the dynamics of fiscal sovereignty. Alongside national tax jurisdictions, there are several bilateral and regional treaties that have to be accommodated under the WTO. The number of treaties is so high that experts call it a “spaghetti bowl effect”. The current scenario is one where the multilateral trading system, along with regional and bilateral trade agreements, all share the task of regulating global trade.

We warmly thank Prof. Leonardo Costa for the opportunity to deepen our knowledge on this important subject.