It was with the greatest possible diplomacy that the member states wrote to the 92 jurisdictions to be the subject of tax screening to inform them of the launch of the process.
Basically, these letters stressed several times that this screening is absolutely without prejudice to the future list of tax havens. The letters, which have been sent to the ambassadors of the countries concerned in Brussels, stress that the "selection of jurisdictions for the 2017 screening process was based on a set of objective indicators such as strength of economic ties with the EU, financial activity, etc.".
The letter then goes on to ask the jurisdictions to provide the Secretariat of the Council of the EU with the names, email addresses and telephone numbers of the people to be their points of contact with the European countries over the next six months. "During this process, full account will be taken of the specific situation of jurisdictions concerned", the letters stress, concluding by pointing out that there is no EU list of tax havens today. The European countries have decided not to publish either the letters or the list of countries to be screened, but as we reported in December, they are the countries of tables 1 and 2 of the Commission's scoreboard (and include the United States, Canada and Switzerland, Liechtenstein and several others) along with certain countries considered less developed, but which still have a financial centre, such as Vanuatu.
The timetable is taking shape: panels of national experts are expected to be set up in February. Then, dialogue will be held through to the summer with the delegations concerned. In September, it is hoped that the results of this dialogue may be presented to the 'Code of Conduct' group, which will notify the Council of the EU which jurisdictions have failed to meet the criteria defining a tax haven and should be included on the list. By the end of this year, the Council is expected to officially approve the European blacklist of tax havens. However, there is still no agreement on the battery of criteria aiming to indicate whether jurisdiction conducts fair tax competition (see EUROPE 11709). The national experts will meet this Friday to try to decide whether a zero rate could be one of the indicators of a jurisdiction which has adopted a strategy aiming to encourage offshore structures. Several tests are expected to be brought in. A 'gateway test' would involve considering whether the jurisdiction in question has a financial centre, a zero rate and no obligation upon businesses to file annual financial statements. A group led by France and Germany would like the gateway test to include a reference to the direct foreign investment/GDP ratio.
Another test would be more factual, aiming in particular to determine whether a jurisdiction promotes itself as an offshore destination.
The countries' positions on the question of a zero rate are fairly entrenched. At this stage, it is hard to say whether an agreement will be possible on Friday. If the member states fail to agree, the dossier will be referred to the ministers on 20 February. (Original version in French by Élodie Lamer)