European Union

"The Council:

1.       RECOGNISES the progress made in pursuing the ambitious EU agenda for fairer, more transparent and more effective taxation and in strengthening the cooperation between fiscal authorities across the EU;

2.       CONFIRMS the importance of improving further the EU and international tax framework to prevent cross-border tax abuse and illicit financial activity;

3.       WELCOMES the Communication from the Commission of 5 July 2016 on further measures to enhance transparency and the fight against tax evasion and avoidance;

4.       AGREES that recent EU legislation to automatically exchange information on tax rulings and on tax related country-by-country reports of multinationals between Member States' competent authorities is an important step forward;

5.       CALLS for looking at options for enhancing the administrative cooperation between competent authorities within the EU even further, including through considering options inspired by the work of the OECD Joint International Taskforce on Shared Intelligence and Collaboration (JITSIC);

6.       CONSIDERS the proposals by the Commission for revision of the Directive on Administrative Cooperation and of the Anti-Money Laundering Directive in view of the synergies between these two areas as timely and INTENDS to work towards their swift adoption in accordance with the EU legislative process;

7.       CONFIRMS that there is a need for more effective and efficient cooperation between tax authorities and other agencies involved in the fight against tax evasion, money laundering and terrorist financing in line with the appropriate legal safeguards;

8.       STRESSES the need to prevent the large-scale concealment of funds which hinders the effective fight against tax evasion, money laundering and terrorist financing, and to ensure that  the identities of beneficial owners of companies, legal entities or legal arrangements are known;

9.       WELCOMES the initiative for the automatic exchange of information on ultimate beneficial owners whereby many jurisdictions, including all Member States, have agreed to exchange information on the beneficial owners of companies, legal entities and legal arrangements and LOOKS FORWARD to rapid international progress;

10.     INVITES the Commission to analyse the possibility for a  proposal on improving the cross-border access to information on ultimate beneficial owners on the basis of the ongoing work at international level;

11.     NOTES that at its October 2016 meeting the G20 heard initial proposals by OECD and FATF on ways to improve the implementation of the international standards on transparency, including on the availability of beneficial ownership information;

12.     RECALLS the need to increase oversight of enablers and promoters of aggressive tax planning and to introduce more effective disincentives for such activities;

13.     WELCOMES the intention of the Commission to launch in autumn 2016 a public consultation to gather feedback on the most appropriate approach to achieve greater transparency on the activities of intermediaries who assist in tax evasion or avoidance schemes;

14.     NOTES the intention of the Commission to explore possibilities for Mandatory Disclosure Rules inspired by Action 12 of the OECD BEPS project, drawing on the experiences in this area of some EU Member States, and to possibly come forward with a legislative proposal in 2017;

15.     ENCOURAGES the Commission to start reflecting on the possibility for future exchange of such information between tax administrations in the EU;

16.     STRESSES the need to work closely with the OECD and other international partners on a possible global approach to greater transparency in this area;

17.     SUPPORTS the promotion of higher tax good governance standards worldwide and NOTES that technical work in the Council has already started within the Code of Conduct on Business Taxation Group on establishing an EU list of non-cooperative third country jurisdictions to be ready in 2017, including on defining the criteria for listing jurisdictions and on exploring possible countermeasures;

18.     AGREES that the protection of whistle blowers is important and ENCOURAGES the Commission to explore the possibility for future action at EU level while respecting the principle of subsidiarity;

19.     RECOGNISES that improving tax certainty in the EU can contribute to further increase the competitiveness of EU businesses and TAKES NOTE of the intention of the Commission to present proposals aimed at fighting BEPS and tax avoidance while also ensuring a stable and predictable tax environment and eliminating double taxation, namely on improving dispute resolution and the relaunch of the CCCTB."

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Disclaimer : The interpretation of debates serves to facilitate communication and does not constitute an authentic record of proceedings. Only the original speech or the revised written translation is authentic.
Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Commission v Italy
Area of Freedom, Security and Justice
By failing to guarantee just and appropriate compensation for victims of all violent intentional crimes committed in cross-border situations, Italy has failed to fulfil its obligations under EU law

Plans to prolong a 10% increase in the EU contribution towards project costs in Greece until 30 June of the year following the end of its economic adjustment programme were approved by Regional Development Committee MEPs on Tuesday. MEPs also approved a special provision whereby the EU would pay up to 85% of project costs in Cyprus until the current programming period ends in 2020.
Committee on Regional Development

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Plans to prolong a 10% increase in the EU contribution towards project costs in Greece until 30 June of the year following the end of its economic adjustment programme were approved by Regional Development Committee MEPs on Tuesday. MEPs also approved a special provision whereby the EU would pay up to 85% of project costs in Cyprus until the current programming period ends in 2020.
Committee on Regional Development

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

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Euro area finance ministers’ discussions about Greece have been known to be many things: long, tortuous, bitter and occasionally career-ending.

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The European Parliament's Press Service is holding a seminar to provide key media and institutional representatives the opportunity to look into issues of crucial importance to the EU in the coming years, ranging from unemployment and economic stagnation to the refugee crisis and the fight against terrorism. This thematic digest provides selected publications provided by Parliament’s Policy Departments which are relevant to the topic of this seminar.
Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

The European Parliament's Press Service is holding a seminar to provide key media and institutional representatives the opportunity to look into issues of crucial importance to the EU in the coming years, ranging from unemployment and economic stagnation to the refugee crisis and the fight against terrorism. This thematic digest provides selected publications provided by Parliament’s Policy Departments which are relevant to the topic of this seminar.
Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Let me make couple of remarks on the economy and then go to today's agenda.

Most of us are just back from the Washington IMF meetings therefore the energy level was very low, everyone was jet lagged which made my life a lot easier. The low energy level would also go for the world economy, where trade is slow and risks are in international markets. Interestingly enough, the last years that I've been to the IMF Europe and Eurozone is always considered a risk. But at the moment the growth in the Eurozone is above average of the developed countries and even higher than in the US. So it was, from the Eurozone prospective, quite a change in terms of the debate.

It's fair to say that the Eurozone is more resilient now. The policies and reforms are paying off. Growth is continuing and the growth rate for the Eurozone had actually been upgraded a slight 0.1 percentage point by the IMF, so we're still going in the right direction. It says in my text "all but one of our economies" have returned to growth, but I believe also Greece has now had three consecutive quarters of growth. So that's where we are.

Today we first of all had a discussion on Greece.

We heard from the four institutions on the completion of the implementation of the 15 open milestones which enables us all to close the first review. Important reforms have been undertaken on pensions, energy sector, bank governance, as well as on the setting up of the privatisation fund and the revenue agency. We have issued a statement on that so I can be brief.

This progress enables the ESM to disburse EUR 1.1 bn remaining under the second tranche.

There has also been substantial progress on arrears clearance in July and August, which is essential to strengthen the economic recovery. Technical work will continue to gather the September data. This always takes a number of weeks to complete these data, so that cannot be helped, it cannot be done faster. We hope and presume that before the end of October those data are available. They will then be assessed by the institutions and on that basis the ESM Board of Directors could decide on the disbursement of EUR 1.7 bn. So this is specifically for the clearance of arrears. So that's also good news.

We will now focus on the second review, which we expect to be completed swiftly and we will come back to that in next meetings.

Next on our agenda was one of the thematic discussions on growth and jobs. This time we looked at long-term healthcare and long-term care, looked at public expenditures and how to secure fiscal sustainability.

This is of course an important issue for our countries given our ageing societies. High government debt, and the budgetary pressures posed by population ageing make the sustainability of health systems a matter of common concern. On the basis of a report done by the Commission, we discussed where we are, what the challenges are and what good practices we have.

Expenditure projections indicate substantial risks and financial challenges in health systems, looking at the horizon 2060, and we should be taking steps now to avert those risks. We looked at various policy options and will further investigate how best to take this work forward. This issue will also be tomorrow on the Ecofin agenda.

Finally on our agenda we took stock of current fiscal issues. Work progresses on some adjustments regarding the procedural aspects of draft budgetary plans, how to deal with those, and also we were updated by the Commission on the ongoing structured dialogue with the European Parliament. This is about the suspension of structural funds for Spain and Portugal. Finally we have planned to discuss draft budgetary plans, which will be coming in the coming days at the Commission, to discuss those on the 5th of December in the Eurogroup. That's all from me.

Propaganda pressure on the EU from Russia and Islamic terrorist organisations is growing, say Foreign Affairs Committee MEPs in a resolution voted on Monday. It seeks to distort the truth, incite fear, provoke doubt and divide the EU. However, this pressure should be countered, not with more propaganda, but with positive messaging, awareness raising and education to increase the information literacy amongst EU citizens, MEPs add.
Committee on Foreign Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Propaganda pressure on the EU from Russia and Islamic terrorist organisations is growing, say Foreign Affairs Committee MEPs in a resolution voted on Monday. It seeks to distort the truth, incite fear, provoke doubt and divide the EU. However, this pressure should be countered, not with more propaganda, but with positive messaging, awareness raising and education to increase the information literacy amongst EU citizens, MEPs add.
Committee on Foreign Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Propaganda pressure on the EU from Russia and Islamic terrorist organisations is growing, say Foreign Affairs Committee MEPs in a resolution voted on Monday. It seeks to distort the truth, incite fear, provoke doubt and divide the EU. However, this pressure should be countered, not with more propaganda, but with positive messaging, awareness raising and education to increase the information literacy amongst EU citizens, MEPs add.
Committee on Foreign Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

The Eurogroup welcomes the implementation by the Greek authorities of the set of 15 milestones in the context of the first review of the ESM programme. The Eurogroup commends the Greek authorities for adopting the necessary further measures to reform the pension system and the energy sector, to strengthen bank governance, to fully establish the new independent Revenue Agency and to proceed with the privatisation programme. The Eurogroup also notes the further progress in the set-up of the Privatisation and Investment Fund - the Hellenic Corporation of Assets and Participations (HCAP). The Eurogroup stresses that the appointment of the members of the Board of Directors of HCAP, including the Chairman and CEO positions, must be pursued as a matter of priority in order to make the fund fully operational before the end of 2016, in the context of the second review of the ESM programme. To this end, we welcome the commitment of the Greek authorities to ensure that the appointment process is in line with the requirements of the HCAP law to ensure that Board members are fully independent, professional and with clear experience and the corporate governance standards will be in line with international best practices.

The implementation of the milestones paves the way for the ESM Board of Directors to approve the remaining disbursement of EUR 1.1 bn under the second tranche for debt servicing needs.

The Eurogroup acknowledges that significant progress has been made towards the clearance of net arrears during July and August and notes the time required for completing the data for September, which would be later in October. The institutions' positive assessment of Greece's clearance of net arrears would pave the way for the ESM Board of Directors to approve the further release of EUR 1.7 bn, which will be disbursed to a dedicated account to be used for arrears clearance.

The Eurogroup will now turn its attention to the next stages of the ESM programme. We call on the Greek authorities to intensify their work with the institutions on the measures needed to complete the second review in a timely manner, and welcome the intention of the institutions to return to Athens in mid-October 2016.

CoderDojo, the Irish winners of the European Citizen's Prize 2016, received their medal on Thursday 29 September in Dublin. Seán Kelly ME, EPP presented the prize to Giustina Mizzoni, Executive Director of Coder Dojo at a special Irish prize-giving ceremony in Dublin. CoderDojo will also take part in the official EU Citizen’s Prize ceremony to which will be held in Brussels in October.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

“We have no problem with the 12,5% corporate tax rate in Ireland”, Commissioner Margrethe Vestager told Irish Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee members in a hearing on competition policy on Monday. “But we want to be sure that tax rulings are not being used to grant selective advantages to companies through the backdoor”, she added, referring to the illegal tax ruling that resulted in a minimal tax bill for the American multinational.
Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

“We have no problem with the 12,5% corporate tax rate in Ireland”, Commissioner Margrethe Vestager told Irish Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee members in a hearing on competition policy on Monday. “But we want to be sure that tax rulings are not being used to grant selective advantages to companies through the backdoor”, she added, referring to the illegal tax ruling that resulted in a minimal tax bill for the American multinational.
Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

On 15 June, Security and Defence MEPs will hold a workshop on Russian military presence in the Eastern Partnership Countries (Belarus, Moldova, Ukraine and South Caucasus). Together with the researchers they will debate the effects of this military presence and future perspectives.
Location : Paul-Henri Spaak 5B001
Programme
Progrmme
Workshop summary
Speeches, presentations, background document and summary
Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Saudi Arabia and Member States have long established relations in the field of armaments cooperation. In 2015, Saudi Arabia spent EUR 75 billion on defence. Yet, it still relies on the security guarantees provided by the United States. Many in Europe have reservations about arms exports to the Kingdom, driven by concerns on the respect of the international humanitarian law in the conflict in Yemen. There is, however, no common European position regarding the defence ties with the country.
Location : Paul-Henri Spaak 4B001
Programme
Programme
Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

General : Last May 7,500 young people from across the EU came to the Parliament in Strasbourg for the biennial European Youth Event (EYE). Following two days of discussion on issues ranging from migration to youth unemployment and climate change, 50 of the most interesting ideas from EYE2016 were handed over to MEPs in September. Now EYE participants will present those ideas to Parliament’s committees. You too can join the debate online by using the hashtag #EYE2016.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

General : Last May 7,500 young people from across the EU came to the Parliament in Strasbourg for the biennial European Youth Event (EYE). Following two days of discussion on issues ranging from migration to youth unemployment and climate change, 50 of the most interesting ideas from EYE2016 were handed over to MEPs in September. Now EYE participants will present those ideas to Parliament’s committees. You too can join the debate online by using the hashtag #EYE2016.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP