Brussels, 15/12/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 15 December, the European Commission adopted new rules to make it easier for EU Member States' tax authorities to carry out the automatic exchange of information (AEI) about bank accounts and financial accounts that is due to come into force on 1 January 2016, under the amended directive on administrative cooperation. Countries will begin sharing information relating to 2016 in 2017. The agreed rules are consistent with the OECD global standard of exchange, meaning that EU tax authorities will be able to use one single format for exchanging information both within and outside the European Union. Member States have committed to a proposal by the Commission to further improve the rules in 2019 by adding more information fields and to consider any other necessary adjustments. Agreement was reached on the directive at an Ecofin Council in October 2014 (see EUROPE 11176). (Original version in French by Élodie Lamer)