Brussels, 13/10/2014 (Agence Europe) - Austria and Luxembourg could be given an extra year to apply the automatic exchange of information (AEI) under the revised directive on administrative cooperation, meaning implementation on 1 September 2018 instead of 2017. At the meeting of the national ambassadors to the EU (Coreper) on 9 October, Austria maintained its reservations over applying the AEI from 1 September 2017, invoking technical issues, although the 26 other countries have agreed to do so, according to the document by the Italian Presidency of the Council of the EU. Luxembourg will notify its position to the Ecofin Council to be held this Tuesday 14 October. For the other delegations, the message is clear: an agreement on this directive is required on Tuesday, and it is up to these two states to take their responsibilities. The compromise put forward by the Italian Presidency is that 26 countries will apply the AEI from September 2017, with an extra year's grace period for Austria and Luxembourg. (EL)