Brussels, 03/09/2002 (Agence Europe) - A negotiating meeting was held in Brussels on Tuesday at top official level between Switzerland and the European Union over savings tax. Jonathan Todd, spokesperson for Commissioner Frits Bolkestein, said that the Commission's aim was to reach agreement with Switzerland by the end of the year about the country adopting "equivalent measures" to the measures to be implemented by Member States under the savings tax directive. Luxembourg made it a condition of its support for the taxation package in December that agreements were signed with non-EU states (Switzerland, the US, Andorra, Liechtenstein, Monaco and San Marino) and with the Channel Islands (linked with the UK) and the Caribbean islands linked with the Netherlands.
The spokesperson stressed that the Commission aimed to reach agreement on equivalent measures according to the terms of the negotiating mandate from the Feira European Council. The negotiations focussed on the definition of "equivalent measures". In the interests of banking secrecy, Switzerland has already stated that it is not prepared to agree to automatic information exchange (along the lines of the system Member States will have to set up from 2004 onwards). The spokesperson commented ironically that this position had not changed from June or July and the Commission was aware of this before it began the meeting. Luxembourg has pointed out on several occasions that it sees "equivalent" as meaning "identical". Bolkestein's spokesperson said that "equivalent does not mean the same thing".
Commission Bolkestein is expected to debrief his colleagues about progress in the negotiations with non-EU states at the ECOFIN Council meeting in Copenhagen next weekend.
The Presidency will report back on the meeting in Copenhagen on 30 August between the Finance Minister and President of Switzerland Kaspar Villiger, the Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen and the Danish Finance Minister Thor Pedersen.