At the Ecofin Council meeting on Tuesday 16 July, the EU Finance Ministers adopted their position for the second substantive session of the Ad Hoc Committee to draft terms of reference for a UN Framework Convention on international tax cooperation.
This session will take place in New York from Monday 29 July to Friday 16 August. In their position, the ministers want to “promote an efficient and effective process in the area of international tax cooperation” that will help to “promote stability and certainty within the international tax architecture”.
They believe that the terms of reference to draw up a framework convention is essential to clarify and determine future work, including high-level commitments and rules of procedure. They hope that the special committee will strive to build bridges, find common ground and foster mutual understanding.
Finally, they considered that the main decision on the drafting of protocols, as well as the decision on their content, number and timetable, should be taken by the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee. “The terms of reference should reflect that they do not prejudge the outcomes of the negotiating committee and should clarify that the work of the negotiating committee should be based on substantive technical analysis before starting to work on any potential measures in a targeted and efficient manner”, they stressed. Other instruments should be explored, such as best practice or soft law.
Read the position: https://aeur.eu/f/d1v (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)