Turkey once again escapes the European ‘black’ list of tax havens. An agreement was finally reached on Monday 15 February, at the level of national experts in the Council of the EU, on the revision of the list and with it on the fate of Turkey, which on which the Member States were divided (see EUROPE 12658/22).
The item was struck from the Ecofin Council agenda on Tuesday 16 February at the beginning of the meeting, a European source explained, as the agreement reached the previous day at technical level made it unnecessary for the Ministers to discuss it.
At a press conference, the Portuguese Finance Minister, João Leão, confirmed that Turkey would remain on the ‘grey’ list of countries that have made commitments. “We were able to make progress in terms of cooperation with Turkey on tax matters, so it was not included in the list”, he said.
According to the draft text obtained by EUROPE, Ankara has indeed obtained a new four-month deadline to put in order its system of automatic exchange of information on bank accounts. The text asks Turkey to fully commit, at a high political level, by 31 May 2021, to effectively activate its automatic information exchange system with Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, France, Germany and the Netherlands by 30 June 2021.
For the 27 Member States, the information relating to fiscal year 2019 must be sent by 1 September 2021 at the latest. Information relating to fiscal years 2020 and 2021 must be sent by 30 September 2021 and 30 September 2022, respectively.
In the event of failure to meet any of these deadlines, the text specifies that Turkey would then meet the conditions for joining the EU’s ‘black’ list at the next review of the list next October.
The wording found was likely to convince France, Greece, Austria, Denmark and Cyprus, which wanted to put the country on the European ‘black’ list or, at the very least, in the event of a new postponement, wanted to clearly indicate that this was Turkey’s last chance (see EUROPE 12657/12)
As far as the European Parliament is concerned, reactions were not long in coming. On Tuesday, Markus Ferber (EPP, Germany) called on the Council not to grant any “political rebates for Ankara”. “Turkey has had its chance and has failed to use the extra time it has been granted last year effectively. Time is up, and Turkey needs to be added to the ‘black’ list now”, he said in a statement.
Sven Giegold (Greens/EFA, Germany) considered that this deferral for Turkey amounted to an “invitation to evade taxes”. “The decision is weakening the already toothless EU tax haven list by giving Turkey this gratuitous extension,” he said.
Beyond the additional time granted to Turkey, the revision contains other changes, such as the addition of Dominica to the ‘black’ list and the transfer of Barbados to the ‘grey’ list.
The revision is expected to be approved on Wednesday 17 February, without discussion, by the ambassadors of the Member States to the EU (Coreper). Formal adoption will take place either at the Foreign Affairs Council meeting on 22 February, if it takes place in person, or by written procedure.
See draft text: http://bit.ly/3u6JSQH (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)