Judicial cooperation in civil matters/Action brought by a public authority

The concept of ‘civil and commercial matters’ within the meaning of Article 1(1) of Council Regulation (EC) No 44/2001 of 22 December 2000 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters must be interpreted as meaning that it covers an action whereby a public authority of one Member State claims, as against natural and legal persons resident in another Member State, damages for loss caused by a tortious conspiracy to commit value added tax fraud in the first Member State.

http://curia.europa.eu/juris/document/document.jsf?text=&docid=140942&pageIndex=0&doclang=EN&mode=req&dir=&occ=first&part=1&cid=1515782