Brussels, 03/07/2015 (Agence Europe) - The group of 79 ACP (Africa, Caribbean, Pacific) states linked to the European Union by a partnership agreement for development is deeply concerned by the list of the top 30 countries considered as uncooperative tax jurisdictions that was published by the European Commission on 17 June - without any of the 15 ACP countries featuring on the list being consulted (see EUROPE 11347).
Noting that 15 ACP states, a large number of which are island states, “have been black-listed by the EU”, the trade ministers of the ACP countries did not mince their words when meeting in Brussels on 24-26 June (while the summit of EU heads of state and government was taking place).
Criticising an arbitrary decision, which in their view is a serious breach of the letter and spirit of the Cotonou Agreement, the ACP trade ministers say they are “deeply concerned by the prejudice and severe damage that such publication has caused to the financial sectors of these ACP countries, which are mostly service economies”.
These are the terms of the official declaration that the ACP trade ministers adopted for the European Commission at the end of the 18th meeting of the ACP ministerial trade committee on fiscal jurisdiction in ACP countries. The ACP trade ministers also express “profound concern at the manner in which the European Commission has arbitrarily black-listed some of the ACP countries based on erroneous perception of some of the EU member states”.
The ACP ministers strongly condemn the EU's approach, “which is contrary to the spirit of ACP-EU partnership and EU policy coherence”.
Commission asked to withdraw this list. Reiterating that “the only recognised authority to publish such a list is the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes of the OECD”, the ACP trade ministers call on the EU to withdraw the list immediately and refrain from issuing such publications in the future.
The ministers recall that the Cotonou Agreement provides for political dialogue (Article 8) and European policy coherence (Article 12). However, they underline that none of the 15 ACP countries concerned was consulted before the publication of this list by the Commission. Furthermore, several of these ACP countries have signed, concluded or negotiated an economic partnership agreement (EPA) with the EU - which is supposed to be a development instrument contributing to the reduction of poverty, to sustainable development, to strengthening regional integration, and to stimulating trade, the ACP trade ministers state.
The ministers also underline that a number of countries on the black list fully or largely respect OECD standards, and they believe that “some of the countries on the list rank higher than some EU member states in terms of compliance under OECD standards”. (Aminata Niang)