María José Garde, chair of the Code of Conduct Group (Business Taxation) in the EU Council, said she hoped to have a proposal on beneficial ownership transparency before the end of her term in February 2025, during her exchange of views with the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Tax Matters (FISC) on Tuesday 3 December (see EUROPE 13461/19).
Questioned by Matthias Ecke (S&D, German), Ms Garde acknowledged that this was “an essential criterion in the fight against tax fraud”. “The group has been conducting an internal review for a year”, she reported. “There is a discussion between us, and we need to define the information we need to analyse to check whether a particular jurisdiction is cooperating”, she added.
These new criteria could therefore be used to draw up the European Union’s ‘black list’ of uncooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes. This list was also the subject of several questions from MEPs, in particular its revision. Rasmus Andresen (Greens/EFA, German), for example, defended his group’s vision of revising the list to make it “more balanced and complete” and asked the chair for her recommendations.
“The list is an exercise in cooperation, not sanctions”, she replied. “If the list is longer, that doesn’t mean it’s more effective”, she added. In her view, the list has positive consequences, as it helps these jurisdictions to comply with the rules on transparency and helps to establish a level playing field.
Faced with these stock answers, the MEPs pressed the chair to hear her opinion on the revision of the list criteria. “The criteria have been ratified and the list adopted by the Ecofin Council”, she replied several times. “I may have a personal position, but as chair, I have a duty to defend the criteria”, she added. She pointed out that an exchange of views on the subject might be useful, as the European Parliament could express its opinion and say what it wanted to add to the list of criteria. “The Ecofin Council approves the report on our activities every six months and has not expressed any desire for change”, she concluded. (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)