After only 2 months of being in existence, the European Parliament's Sub-Committee on Fiscal Affairs (FISC) is preparing its first ever draft resolution looking at a reform of the European 'black' list of tax havens.
Its president, Paul Tang, recently issued a warning that the FISC sub-committee would not hesitate to play “bad cop” and ask the questions that will make people angry (see EUROPE 12606/17). And this is exactly what FISC intends to do in this initial draft text, which was drawn up on the basis of a written question to the EU Council and the European Commission, and which was published on Friday 20 November.
The text recognises the positive impact that the EU 'black' list has made, but calls for increased transparency, stricter listing criteria and stronger defensive measures against tax avoidance and evasion. It particularly deplores the recent removal from the list of “countries with a clear record of promoting base erosion and profit shifting” such as the Cayman Islands (see EUROPE 12575/8).
Emphasising that the lack of transparency may lead to decisions being misunderstood and risks undermining public trust, it calls on the EU Council's Code of Conduct for Business Taxation Group – responsible for preparing the work on the list – to disclose attendees to, the topics of discussion and the conclusions adopted in its meetings. It also calls on the European Commission to be fully transparent about the methodology used to evaluate non-Member State regimes.
The text also notes that “the influence of the Union to fight tax evasion and harmful tax practices worldwide depends on the example it sets at home”. It therefore believes that reforming the Code of Conduct proposed by the Commission (see EUROPE 12528/2) should subject Member States to the same criteria as those laid down for non-Member States.
In addition, it calls for State aid rules and national support programmes to ensure that companies with links to the listed jurisdictions are not eligible to receive support.
A debate on the text is scheduled for 7 December in the FISC subcommittee, while the vote in the European Parliament's Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) is expected to be held on 10 December.
See draft text: https://bit.ly/2KC24zj (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)