Brussels, 11/02/2009 (Agence Europe) - By request of Germany, the European Finance Ministers on Tuesday 10 February adopted conclusions "immediately" calling on the European Commission to continue negotiations on an anti-fraud agreement with Liechtenstein, in the framework of the mandate conferred on it in 2006. They already called on the Commission to do the same in November last year (see EUROPE 9775). The agreement should focus on: - administrative assistance, whereby Liechtenstein would commit to respond to requests made by the tax authorities of the Member States and; - effective access to information regarding "all forms of investment, particularly foundations and trusts".
On the plank regarding the exchange of information, the Ecofin Council expects Liechtenstein to include in the agreement obligations of a scope at least similar to that of the obligations the country recently concluded with third countries. This is a barely-concealed reference to the bilateral agreement signed by the Principality and the United States in December 2008 and which fixes the cooperation of the Liechtenstein authorities in the framework of tax fraud investigations carried out by the American authorities into American nationals who have placed savings in Liechtenstein. The ministers called on the Commission to report back to them on progress made "no later than May 2009". In mid-December 2008, the Commission presented proposed decisions on the signature of the EU/Liechtenstein anti-fraud agreement (see EUROPE 9810). (M.B./trans.fl)