Brussels, 10/12/2002 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday, the Ecofin Council will attempt a last minute attempt to un-block the "fiscal package" and energy tax following the most recent discussions with the Commission, Switzerland and Member States opposed to the compromise. Commissioner Bolkestein will be drawing up a report on his meeting of 5 December with Swiss President, Kaspar Villiger and Luxembourg Prime Minister, Jean-Claude Juncker held on 10 December. The Head of the Commission negotiating team with Switzerland over tax, Robert Verru, will provide feedback on his meeting with the Austrian authorities. Luxembourg and Austria were the two countries most opposed to the Swiss proposals of "equivalent measures" compared to those implemented by Member States in the framework of the directive on savings taxation, which in principle has to be adopted at the end of the year.
Mr Bolkestein's spokesperson, Jonathan Todd explained on Tuesday that there was still hope in finding an agreement on the fiscal package, following five years of negotiations. He is, nonetheless, expecting drawn-out discussion during the day. He acknowledged that the Swiss proposals go less in the direction of the OECD agreement of 2002 on information exchange for tax purposes. The problem is still over the definition of what constitutes "fraud" and assimilated offences and what information Switzerland would be prepared to provide on savings income placed in Switzerland by EU residents. Jonathan Todd thought, however, that clarifications provided by Bern went "in the right direction". The equation that the Fifteen and Switzerland will have to resolve will rest on three sets of data, he stressed: dates for entry into force, levels of withholding tax, information to supply.
At Luxembourg and Belgium's request, the United Kingdom will also have to provide more information on measures associated territories and independent islands of the Caribbean and the Channel Isles are prepared to apply. At the last EcoFin Council, Gordon Brown said that the Channel Isles would implement information exchange at the end of the transition period, in 2011. He did, however, remain vague as to what would happen between 2004 and 2011, the Luxembourg and Belgian ministers noted. There are still uncertainties for this period, Jonathan Todd acknowledged: the territories will have to implement either retention at source, like Luxembourg, Austria and Belgium, or take part in information exchange set up by the other twelve Member states.