Brussels, 07/12/2004 (Agence Europe) - Tuesday's Ecofin Council reached a political agreement on review of the Merger Directive, review that extends the directive's scope to a larger range of companies, including the European Company, cooperatives, mutual societies and savings banks as well as funds and associations with commercial activities. Gerrit Zalm welcomed the agreement which, he said, will "contribute to abolishing tax barriers" within the internal market. Laszlo Kovacs, Taxation Commissioner, said the change could be even greater with the entry into force of the directive on cross-border mergers and corporate law, on which there is a move toward agreement.
The review also provides for a new, neutral tax regime for transfer of the registered office of a European company or a European cooperative from one Member State to another. It stipulates that the directive applies to cases where company branches are transformed into subsidiaries. It also concerns a new kind of operation, known by the name of "partial split" or "split with share swap".