Brussels, 19/04/2016 (Agence Europe) - Before the summer, the European Commission will propose changes to be Financial Regulation of the EU to reinforce the provisions aiming to prevent EU public funds from being invested or transiting through entities in third countries which do not comply with the international transparency standards.
This is stated in a Commission note of which EUROPE has had sight and which will be used as a basis for a debate between the Finance Ministers of the EU on the Panama Papers scandal, at the end of the week in Amsterdam.
As long ago as January, in its communication on its external strategy for effective taxation, the Commission stated that it wished to extend the provisions in this field of the Regulation to “also encompass the EU's principles for fair tax competition”.
In the note, which was submitted to the EU members on Tuesday 19 April, the Commission states that it is examining the request of the European member countries of the G20 (Germany, France, the United Kingdom and Italy) to improve transparency regarding the beneficial owners of trusts and screen companies (see EUROPE 11533). The Commission adds that it would be interested in the opinions of the ministers on additional measures to reinforce the money laundering framework. “In particular, it would be worth considering whether improvements are possible to enhance accessibility of beneficial ownership registers, to clarify the registration requirements for trusts, to speed up the interconnection of national beneficial ownership registers, promote automatic exchange of information on beneficial ownership and strengthen customer due diligence rules”, the Commission writes.
The Commission will also sound out the member states about the possibility of bringing effective deterrent measures into European legislation for banks and tax consultants promoting aggressive tax planning.
The Commission adds that by the summer, it also plans a discussion with the member states on a pre-assessment of the tax systems of third countries from the point of view of good governance and states that the Twenty-Eight should rapidly agree on the third countries to be monitored as a priority, so that the process can start by the end of the year.
In a letter to the President-in-exercise of the Ecofin Council, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, which was attached to the Commission's note, the Vice-President of the Commission, Valdis Dombrovskis, states that the EU's key priorities should include rapid negotiations on the Commission's proposal on country-by-country tax transparency. (Original version in French by Elodie Lamer)