25/01/2021 (Agence Europe) – A new twist in the EU Council on the proposed country-by-country reporting, which would require companies to make public certain accounting data such as their turnover. After the meeting of the EU Council's national experts on Friday 22 January, which had not led to any drastic change in the positions of the Member States (see EUROPE 12642/21), Austria reportedly made it known through bilateral contacts that its position had been “misunderstood” and that it was prepared to vote in favour of the text, two sources told us on Monday 25 January. This clarification puts an end to the blocking minority formed against the text and thus opens the way for a new formal vote in the EU Council. According to our information, the Portuguese Presidency of the EU Council is currently considering how to proceed with the next steps. (MF)