Tax issues will dominate the agenda of the EU Finance Ministers, who will meet on Tuesday 12 March in Brussels. They will update the EU's 'blacklist' of non-cooperative countries and territories for tax purposes, will seek to unanimously adopt a political agreement in principle ('general approach') on new excise duty rules and will probably discuss digital taxation for the last time.
European blacklist. Ministers will adopt conclusions, carrying out a first revision of the European 'blacklist' of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions.
Established in December 2017 (see EUROPE 11919/1), the blacklist currently includes only five countries, namely American Samoa, Guam, Samoa, Trinidad and Tobago and the American Virgin Islands, while 63 countries are on the 'grey' list of countries that have made commitments to reform their tax practices.
According to a European source, we should not expect a "fundamental upheaval", but the list should nevertheless look "a little more like a list of tax havens". Several sources confirmed that the European 'blacklist' should include about 15 countries (including 10 new ones) and about 30 countries should be on the 'grey' list.
A diplomatic source indicated on Monday 11 March, that there were still, at this stage, discussions on the inclusion of one or two countries on the blacklist. According to Reuters, these are Bermuda, which should finally be added, and the United Arab Emirates, whose inclusion Italy opposes.
Last week, Oxfam unveiled its forecasts, suggesting that nine notorious tax havens could be taken off the EU radar – and therefore off the 'grey' list – namely the Bahamas, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Guernsey, Hong Kong, the Isle of Man, Jersey and Panama (see EUROPE 12209/13).
Digital taxation. Tuesday's meeting will also be the last chance for a European solution on digital taxation (see EUROPE 11986/10). Ministers will hold a policy debate and will be invited to make a final attempt to reach an agreement.
However, on Monday, several sources agreed that no agreement was expected. Ireland, Finland, Denmark, and Sweden continue to oppose the proposal, while some smaller countries remain sceptical regarding the very low revenue that such a tax could generate compared to the cost of its implementation.
On Friday, another diplomatic source also considered that, if even France had introduced its own project to tax large digital companies at national level (see EUROPE 12208/14), there was no one left to push for such a tax.
Then why put the subject on the agenda? The Romanian Presidency of the EU Council had almost "the obligation" to do so, a diplomatic source pointed out on Monday, since at the December ECOFIN Council, France and Germany had tabled a proposal reducing the scope of online advertising (see EUROPE 12152/1) and the ministers had agreed to discuss the subject again in March.
Several discussions at technical level and at the level of Member States' ambassadors to the EU (Coreper) have taken place on this basis and the Romanian Presidency does not jump directly to the 'ECOFIN' box, has ensured the same source.
EUROPE has already detailed the Romanian compromise text that will be tabled, although it should not be discussed in depth (see EUROPE 12210/12).
Progress made in the international negotiations on digital taxation at the OECD (see EUROPE 12183/18) should also be raised. The EU's position in these negotiations could be mentioned, but could not be discussed in detail, according to a European source.
Excise duties. The ECOFIN Council will seek political agreement on three excise duty texts applicable in the EU (see EUROPE 12124/12): – the Directive on general arrangements for excise duty; – the Regulation on administrative cooperation on the content of electronic registers; – the Directive on the structures of excise duties on alcohol and alcoholic beverages.
The measurement of the 'Plato degree' of beer, which makes it possible to determine the tax base, the alternative method for fixing excise duty on wine, other fermented drinks and intermediate products and the exemption from excise duty for small private distilleries are the three points that remain to be settled (see other news).
VAT. The ministers will also adopt, without discussion, the implementing rules on the VAT system for e-commerce (see EUROPE 11919/3). These new detailed measures are intended to ensure a smooth transition to the new regime that will come into effect in January 2021.
InvestEU. The Romanian Presidency will survey the European Finance Ministers on the location of the secretariat of the Investment Committee of the InvestEU Fund, the financial arm of the homonymous programme that will build on the experience of the ‘Juncker’ investment plan. It wishes to put pressure on the Commission to ensure that a compromise solution emerges in parallel with the negotiations it is conducting with representatives of the European Parliament, after the specific Coreper discussion did not produce anything on Friday (see EUROPE 12210/13).
European semester. Finally, the European Commission will present to the Finance Ministers its country reports published on 27 February as part of its winter package as part of the 'European Semester' budget process (see EUROPE 12203/1). A discussion is planned on the implementation of last summer's country-by-country specific recommendations (see EUROPE 12045/17).
The Finnish Minister will also inform his counterparts about the preparatory work for the launch of the Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action, which will take place on 13 April in Washington, D.C., as part of the World Bank and IMF Spring Meetings. (Original version in French by Marion Fontana, Mathieu Bion and Lucas Tripoteau)