16/06/23 (Agence Europe) – At the press conference following the Eurogroup meeting on Thursday 15 June, the European Commissioner for Economic Affairs, Paolo Gentiloni, announced that, on Monday 19 June, he would be presenting a “legislative proposal to make withholding tax procedures simpler and faster”. Initially announced for Wednesday 28 June, this initiative, known as ‘FAST’, is intended to put in place a new common system to avoid double taxation and prevent tax abuse in the area of withholding taxes (see EUROPE 12909/23). “This is one of the issues universally viewed as a major obstacle to cross-border investment”, explained Mr Gentiloni. “This will mean that, by the summer, the Commission will have completed all the actions in our 2020 Capital Markets Union Action Plan”, he added. (AD)