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Commissioner Šemeta expressed his disappointment that there had been no political agreement at the ECOFIN meeting, but said the discussions had been constructive and it was clear that negotiations with the Member States were nearing the finishing line.
"With the EU leaders’ endorsement next week, I believe that the Savings Tax Directive will still be adopted before the end of this month. A stronger Savings Tax Directive is crucial for all Member States to better identify and chase up tax evaders, and to close loopholes which these evaders are exploiting. Moreover, it has acquired a new significance in the past year. The Savings Tax Directive will part of the legislative framework for applying the new global standard of automatic exchange of information within the EU.
This proposal – together with the revised Administrative Cooperation Directive which I proposed last year – will ensure the widest scope of automatic information exchange between our Member States. And, thanks to the EU's intense involvement in the OECD process, this approach within our Union is fully consistent with the new global standard. Therefore, it is of paramount importance that we swiftly rubber-stamp the Savings Directive, as part of our solid legal basis to implement the new international norm.
Meanwhile, the Ministers gave a very positive response to my report on our negotiations for stronger tax agreements with our five neighbours – including Switzerland. I was pleased today to be able to present good progress, with all five countries ready to work towards alignment with the EU when it comes to tax transparency, in keeping with the Global Standard. That is not something we could have foreseen even one year ago."
ECOFIN President Yannis Stournaras concluded the outcome of the Council’s discussion as follows: “On the Savings Taxation Directive, I would like to highlight that this has been a priority of the Hellenic Presidency, as it is an important tool in the fight against tax fraud and tax evasion. In this regard, I am pleased to announce that today, thanks also to the constructive approach of our partners, we made a substantial step forward in that there was unanimous agreement that the formal adoption of the Directive will take place at the next Council formation meeting, following the confirmation of this political agreement at the March European Council, in line with the mandate and timetable foreseen by our Heads of State and government.”
Two holdouts
Reuters reports that Luxembourg's Finance Minister Pierre Gramegna said his country could not yet vote in favour, asking for the matter to be decided by next week's summit of EU leaders. "This is such an important change in our policy that it has to be announced and taken by our prime minister", Mr Gramegna said. Luxembourg has insisted for years it would only agree once financial hubs that aren't EU members, like Switzerland, also sign up. It frets that EU rules might be more stringent than upcoming international standards.
Meanwhile, the WSJ (subscription) reports that Austria's Finance Minister Michael Spindelegger had already told reporters on Monday that his country was ready to agree to the information law now. "It's clear that we cannot wait until a deal with third parties is concluded", he said