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The move would bring Luxembourg into line with all other EU countries bar Austria in sharing information within the European Union about bank depositors in its territory. The decision adds to pressure on Vienna to fall into line, after Austria's chancellor said on Tuesday it would join talks on the subject.
Juncker's announcement ends decades of bank secrecy in Luxembourg, which helped the country establish what is now one of the biggest financial centers in Europe and to make its citizens the region's wealthiest in terms of per-capita income.
Germany's Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble welcomed Luxembourg's move. The European Commission "warmly welcomed" the announcement by Juncker and said discussions were ongoing with Austria to encourage it to fully sign up to the EU's savings directive, a piece of legislation that advocates say will help in the fight against tax evasion across the EU. Luxembourg is also set to sign a similar agreement with the United States, which has long been pushing for tighter controls on offshore centers such as Switzerland to stop tax evasion.
Once Luxembourg adopts the legislation, it would mean the automatic exchange of data about EU citizens holding bank accounts in Luxembourg, with the aim of cracking down on tax avoidance in particular on interest income from savings. Juncker played down the impact of the change in rules, which Luxembourg has been resisting for roughly seven years since the EU Savings Directive was launched.
Luxembourg's announcement leaves Austria as the only country not fully signed up to savings directive rules. Its finance minister said this week she would "fight like a lion" to defend the country's banking secrecy regime. The European Commission warned Austria on Monday that its banking secrecy would put it in a "lonely and unsustainable position" if it did not adopt the same rules as other countries in sharing data on foreign depositors.