The European Council calls for rapid progress on:
- Priority will be given to efforts to extend the automatic exchange of information at the EU and global levels. At the level of the EU, the Commission intends to propose amendments to the Directive on administrative cooperation in June in order for the automatic exchange of information to cover a full range of income.
- Improve the EU's agreements with Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Andorra and San Marino, negotiations will begin as soon as possible to ensure that these countries continue to apply measures equivalent to those in the EU. In the light of this and noting the consensus on the scope of the revised Directive on the taxation of savings income, the European Council called for its adoption before the end of the year.
- Member States will also give priority to the concrete follow-up to the Action Plan on strengthening the fight against tax fraud and tax evasion.
- In order to counter VAT fraud, the European Council expects the Council to adopt the Directives on the quick reaction mechanism and on the reverse charge mechanism by the end of June 2013 at the latest.
- Work will be carried forward as regards the Commission's recommendations on aggressive tax planning and profit shifting. The Commission intends to present a proposal before the end of the year for the revision of the "parent/subsidiary" Directive, and is reviewing the anti-abuse provisions in relevant EU legislation.
- Strengthening of the Code of Conduct on business taxation on the basis of its existing mandate.
- Efforts taken against base erosion, profit shifting, lack of transparency and harmful tax measures also need to be pursued globally, with third countries and within relevant international fora, such as the OECD, so as to ensure a level-playing field, on the basis of coordinated EU positions.
- There is a need to deal with tax evasion and fraud and to fight money laundering, within the internal market and vis-à-vis non-cooperative third countries and jurisdictions, in a comprehensive manner. The revision of the third anti-money laundering Directive should be adopted by the end of the year.
The Council will report back on progress on all these issues by December 2013.
At the Council Meeting of 22 May 2013 the Council agreed to accelerate work in the fight against tax fraud, tax evasion and aggressive tax planning. In particular, work will be taken forward as a matter of priority on promoting and broadening the scope of the automatic exchange of information at all levels.
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