08/04/2020 (Agence Europe) – Bilateral agreements between Member States and the US to implement the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) do not infringe EU law, said EU Taxation Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni on Tuesday 7 April in his reply to a written question by François-Xavier Bellamy (EPP, France) on the subject of “accidental Americans”. “Nationality ties, even when acquired by ‘accident’, come together with the existence of reciprocal rights and duties”, he said. The Commissioner also believes that there have been “improvements” in the impact of FATCA on European citizens and financial institutions. His reply thus hints at the decision that the European Commission may take with regard to the complaint lodged by the Association of Accidental Americans (see EUROPE 12341/14) against France on the grounds that the Franco-American intergovernmental agreement, which applies FATCA, is contrary to the General Data Protection Regulation. (MF)