BETA


2015/0285(NLE) EC/Andorra Agreement: taxation of savings income in the form of interest payments. Protocol

Progress: Procedure completed

RoleCommitteeRapporteurShadows
Lead ECON SCHWAB Andreas (icon: PPE PPE), KOFOD Jeppe (icon: S&D S&D), LOONES Sander (icon: ECR ECR), VAN NIEUWENHUIZEN Cora (icon: ALDE ALDE)
Committee Opinion IMCO
Lead committee dossier:
Legal Basis:
TFEU 115, TFEU 218-p6b-ab, TFEU 218-p8-a2

Events

2016/10/01
   Final act published in Official Journal
Details

PURPOSE: to approve the conclusion of an Agreement between the EU and Andorra aiming to improve tax compliance by private savers.

NON-LEGISLATIVE ACT: Council Decision (EU) 2016/1751 on the conclusion, on behalf of the European Union, of the Amending Protocol to the Agreement between the European Community and the Principality of Andorra providing for measures equivalent to those laid down in Council Directive 2003/48/EC on taxation of savings income in the form of interest payments.

CONTENT: the Council approved, on behalf of the European Union, the Amending Protocol to the Agreement between the European Community and the Principality of Andorra providing for measures equivalent to those laid down in Council Directive 2003/48/EC on taxation of savings income in the form of interest payments.

The Amending Protocol to the Agreement between the European Community and the Principality of Andorra was signed on 12 February 2016. It aligns the Agreement with the latest developments at international level concerning automatic exchange of information , namely with the Global Standard for automatic exchange of financial account information in tax matters developed by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

The text of the Agreement, as amended by the Amending Protocol, is the legal basis for implementing the OCDE Global Standard on automatic exchange of information between Andorra and the EU . It will extend the automatic exchange of information on financial accounts in order to prevent taxpayers from hiding capital representing income or assets for which tax has not been paid.

EN TRY INTO FORCE: 21.10.2016.

2016/09/20
   EP/CSL - Act adopted by Council after consultation of Parliament
2016/09/20
   EP - End of procedure in Parliament
2016/09/20
   CSL - Council Meeting
2016/03/09
   EP - Results of vote in Parliament
2016/03/09
   EP - Decision by Parliament
Details

The European Parliament adopted by 647 votes to 29, with 21 abstentions, a legislative resolution on the proposal for a Council decision on the conclusion, on behalf of the European Union, of the Amending Protocol to the Agreement between the European Community and the Principality of Andorra providing for measures equivalent to those laid down in Council Directive 2003/48/EC on taxation of savings income in the form of interest payments.

Parliament approved the conclusion of the Amending Protocol to the Agreement.

To recall, the European Union and Andorra signed an agreement on 12 February 2016 on the automatic exchange of financial account information, aimed at improving international tax cooperation and compliance.

The agreement aims at ensuring that Andorra applies strengthened measures that are equivalent to the EU legal framework and that comply with the procedures for automatic exchange of financial account information promoted by the 2014 OECD Global standard.

As a result of the new agreement, tax administrations in the Member States and in Andorra will be able to:

identify correctly and unequivocally the taxpayers concerned; administer and enforce their tax laws in cross-border situations; assess the likelihood of tax evasion being perpetrated; avoid unnecessary further investigations.

The Agreement shall enter into force on 1 January 2017, subject to the completion of their respective internal procedures.

Documents
2016/02/29
   EP - Committee report tabled for plenary, 1st reading/single reading
Details

The Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs adopted the report by Miguel VIEGAS (GUE/NGL, PT) on the proposal for a Council decision on the conclusion, on behalf of the European Union, of the Amending Protocol to the Agreement between the European Community and the Principality of Andorra providing for measures equivalent to those laid down in Council Directive 2003/48/EC on taxation of savings income in the form of interest payments.

The committee called on the European Parliament to approve the conclusion of the Amending Protocol to the Agreement.

To recall, the European Union and Andorra signed an agreement on 12 February 2016 on the automatic exchange of financial account information, aimed at improving international tax cooperation and compliance.

Under the new agreement, the EU Member States and Andorra will automatically exchange information on the financial accounts held on their territories by each other's residents, starting in 2018 for information collected since 1 January 2017. The aim is to address situations where a taxpayer seeks to hide capital representing income or assets for which taxes have not been paid.

The agreement aims at ensuring that Andorra applies strengthened measures that are equivalent to the EU legal framework and that comply with the procedures for automatic exchange of financial account information promoted by the 2014 OECD Global standard.

As a result of the new agreement, tax administrations in the Member States and in Andorra will be able to:

identify correctly and unequivocally the taxpayers concerned; administer and enforce their tax laws in cross-border situations; assess the likelihood of tax evasion being perpetrated; avoid unnecessary further investigations.

The EU and Andorra have agreed for the agreement to have an entry into force on 1 January 2017, subject to the completion of their respective internal procedures. The committee strongly urged that the agreement is concluded and ratified as soon as possible in order to ensure a timely entry into force.

Documents
2016/02/25
   EP - Committee referral announced in Parliament
2016/02/25
   EP - Vote in committee
2016/02/12
   EP/CSL - Act adopted by Council after consultation of Parliament
2016/02/12
   CSL - Council Meeting
2016/02/02
   EP - Committee draft report
Documents
2015/12/11
   EC - Document attached to the procedure
2015/12/11
   EC - Legislative proposal published
Details

PURPOSE: to conclude, on behalf of the European Union, the Amending Protocol to the Agreement between the European Community and the Principality of Andorra providing for measures equivalent to those laid down in Council Directive 2003/48/EC on taxation of savings income in the form of interest payments.

PROPOSED ACT: Council Decision.

ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: the Council adopts the act after consulting the European Parliament but without being obliged to follow its opinion.

BACKGROUND : following the adoption of Council Directive 2003/48/EC (‘the Savings Directive’), and in order to preserve the level playing field of economic operators, the EU signed Agreements with Switzerland, Andorra, Liechtenstein, Monaco and San Marino providing for measures equivalent to those laid down in the Directive. Member States also signed agreements with the dependent territories of the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.

The importance of automatic exchange of information as a means to combat cross-border tax fraud and tax evasion has been recognised at international level. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) was mandated by the G20 to develop a single global standard for automatic exchange of financial account information. The OECD Council released the Global Standard in July 2014.

Following the adoption of a proposal to update the Savings Directive, the Commission adopted on 17 June 2011 a recommendation for a mandate to initiate negotiations with several countries, including Andorra, in order to upgrade the EU’s Agreements with those countries in line with international developments and to ensure that those countries continue to apply measures equivalent to those in the EU.

On the basis of a proposal presented by the Commission in June 2013, the Council adopted Directive 2014/107/EU amending Directive 2011/16/EU and extending the mandatory automatic exchange of information between EU tax authorities to a full range of financial items in accordance with the Global Standard.

As Directive 2014/107/EU is generally broader in scope than Directive 2003/48/EC and provides that in cases of overlap of scope, Directive 2014/107/EU prevails, on 18 March 2015 the Commission adopted a proposal to repeal Directive 2003/48/EC.

The Commission considers it crucial to ensure that the amendment of the existing Savings Agreement with Andorra is in line with EU and international developments.

This will be the legal basis for implementing the OCDE Global Standard on automatic exchange of information between Andorra and the EU.

CONTENT: the proposal calls upon the Council to approve, on behalf of the EU, the Amending Protocol to the Agreement between the European Community and Andorra providing for measures equivalent to those laid down in Council Directive 2003/48/EC on taxation of savings income in the form of interest payments.

The Amending Protocol implements the Global Standard between EU Member States and Andorra. Its introduces a new set of provisions comprising 10 Articles, an Annex I that reflects the OECD Common Reporting Standard (CRS) which is part of the Global Standard, an Annex II that reflects important parts of the OECD Commentaries to the Global Standard and an Annex III that lists the Competent Authorities of Andorra and of each Member State.

The new Articles reflect the articles of the OECD Model Competent Authority agreement for the implementation of the Global Standard . They include, inter alia:

a full set of provisions on exchange of information upon request that follows the latest text of the OECD Model Tax Convention; a more detailed set of provisions on data protection; an additional stage of consultation before any Member State or Andorra undertakes to suspend the Agreement.

Furthermore, the Protocol:

deals with issues on the transition from the existing Agreement to the amended Agreement, with regard to requests for information, credits available to beneficial owners for withholding tax, final payments of withholding tax by Andorra to Member States and final exchanges of information under the voluntary disclosure mechanism; includes a Protocol on additional safeguards related to the exchange of information on request. The text specifies that exchanges on the basis of a group request are not excluded.

The revised Agreement is supplemented by four Joint Declarations of the contracting parties and one Unilateral Declaration by Andorra.

Documents

Activities

Votes

A8-0047/2016 - Miguel Viegas - Vote unique #

2016/03/09 Outcome: +: 647, -: 29, 0: 21
DE FR IT ES PL RO GB BE PT HU CZ SE AT EL NL BG FI DK SK LT HR IE SI LV CY MT LU EE
Total
88
68
69
51
47
31
63
21
19
19
20
18
18
20
24
15
12
12
12
11
11
10
8
7
6
6
5
5
icon: PPE PPE
206

Denmark PPE

For (1)

1
2

Luxembourg PPE

2

Estonia PPE

For (1)

1
icon: S&D S&D
176

Netherlands S&D

3

Bulgaria S&D

2

Croatia S&D

2

Ireland S&D

For (1)

1

Slovenia S&D

For (1)

1

Latvia S&D

1

Cyprus S&D

2

Malta S&D

3

Luxembourg S&D

For (1)

1

Estonia S&D

For (1)

1
icon: ALDE ALDE
65

Romania ALDE

3

United Kingdom ALDE

1

Austria ALDE

For (1)

1

Denmark ALDE

2

Croatia ALDE

2

Ireland ALDE

For (1)

1

Slovenia ALDE

For (1)

1

Latvia ALDE

1

Luxembourg ALDE

For (1)

1

Estonia ALDE

2
icon: ECR ECR
64

Italy ECR

2

Romania ECR

For (1)

1

Czechia ECR

2

Greece ECR

Abstain (1)

1

Netherlands ECR

2

Bulgaria ECR

2
2

Slovakia ECR

2

Lithuania ECR

1

Croatia ECR

For (1)

1
icon: GUE/NGL GUE/NGL
48

France GUE/NGL

2

United Kingdom GUE/NGL

1

Czechia GUE/NGL

2

Sweden GUE/NGL

For (1)

1

Netherlands GUE/NGL

3

Finland GUE/NGL

For (1)

1

Denmark GUE/NGL

For (1)

1

Cyprus GUE/NGL

2
icon: Verts/ALE Verts/ALE
47

Belgium Verts/ALE

2

Hungary Verts/ALE

2

Sweden Verts/ALE

3

Austria Verts/ALE

3

Netherlands Verts/ALE

2

Finland Verts/ALE

For (1)

1

Denmark Verts/ALE

For (1)

1

Lithuania Verts/ALE

For (1)

1

Croatia Verts/ALE

For (1)

1

Slovenia Verts/ALE

For (1)

1

Latvia Verts/ALE

1

Luxembourg Verts/ALE

For (1)

1

Estonia Verts/ALE

For (1)

1
icon: ENF ENF
36

Poland ENF

2

Romania ENF

1

United Kingdom ENF

Against (1)

1

Belgium ENF

For (1)

1

Netherlands ENF

4
icon: NI NI
13

Germany NI

2

France NI

Abstain (1)

3

Poland NI

Against (1)

1

United Kingdom NI

For (1)

1

Hungary NI

2
icon: EFDD EFDD
41

France EFDD

1

Poland EFDD

1

Czechia EFDD

Against (1)

1

Sweden EFDD

2

Lithuania EFDD

For (1)

1

History

(these mark the time of scraping, not the official date of the change)

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  • date: 2015-12-11T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/docs_autres_institutions/commission_europeenne/com/2015/0631/COM_COM(2015)0631(ANN)_EN.pdf title: COM(2015)0631 type: Legislative proposal published celexid: CELEX:52015PC0631:EN body: EC commission: DG: url: http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/index_en.htm title: Taxation and Customs Union Commissioner: MOSCOVICI Pierre type: Legislative proposal published
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  • date: 2016-03-09T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/sda.do?id=26882&l=en type: Results of vote in Parliament title: Results of vote in Parliament url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&language=EN&reference=P8-TA-2016-0077 type: Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading title: T8-0077/2016 body: EP type: Results of vote in Parliament
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commission
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docs
  • date: 2015-12-11T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/docs_autres_institutions/commission_europeenne/com/2015/0632/COM_COM(2015)0632(ANN)_EN.pdf title: COM(2015)0632 url: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/smartapi/cgi/sga_doc?smartapi!celexplus!prod!DocNumber&lg=EN&type_doc=COMfinal&an_doc=2015&nu_doc=0632 title: EUR-Lex type: Document attached to the procedure body: EC
  • date: 2016-02-02T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=COMPARL&mode=XML&language=EN&reference=PE575.281 title: PE575.281 type: Committee draft report body: EP
events
  • date: 2015-12-11T00:00:00 type: Legislative proposal published body: EC docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/docs_autres_institutions/commission_europeenne/com/2015/0631/COM_COM(2015)0631(ANN)_EN.pdf title: COM(2015)0631 url: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/smartapi/cgi/sga_doc?smartapi!celexplus!prod!DocNumber&lg=EN&type_doc=COMfinal&an_doc=2015&nu_doc=0631 title: EUR-Lex summary: PURPOSE: to conclude, on behalf of the European Union, the Amending Protocol to the Agreement between the European Community and the Principality of Andorra providing for measures equivalent to those laid down in Council Directive 2003/48/EC on taxation of savings income in the form of interest payments. PROPOSED ACT: Council Decision. ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: the Council adopts the act after consulting the European Parliament but without being obliged to follow its opinion. BACKGROUND : following the adoption of Council Directive 2003/48/EC (‘the Savings Directive’), and in order to preserve the level playing field of economic operators, the EU signed Agreements with Switzerland, Andorra, Liechtenstein, Monaco and San Marino providing for measures equivalent to those laid down in the Directive. Member States also signed agreements with the dependent territories of the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. The importance of automatic exchange of information as a means to combat cross-border tax fraud and tax evasion has been recognised at international level. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) was mandated by the G20 to develop a single global standard for automatic exchange of financial account information. The OECD Council released the Global Standard in July 2014. Following the adoption of a proposal to update the Savings Directive, the Commission adopted on 17 June 2011 a recommendation for a mandate to initiate negotiations with several countries, including Andorra, in order to upgrade the EU’s Agreements with those countries in line with international developments and to ensure that those countries continue to apply measures equivalent to those in the EU. On the basis of a proposal presented by the Commission in June 2013, the Council adopted Directive 2014/107/EU amending Directive 2011/16/EU and extending the mandatory automatic exchange of information between EU tax authorities to a full range of financial items in accordance with the Global Standard. As Directive 2014/107/EU is generally broader in scope than Directive 2003/48/EC and provides that in cases of overlap of scope, Directive 2014/107/EU prevails, on 18 March 2015 the Commission adopted a proposal to repeal Directive 2003/48/EC. The Commission considers it crucial to ensure that the amendment of the existing Savings Agreement with Andorra is in line with EU and international developments. This will be the legal basis for implementing the OCDE Global Standard on automatic exchange of information between Andorra and the EU. CONTENT: the proposal calls upon the Council to approve, on behalf of the EU, the Amending Protocol to the Agreement between the European Community and Andorra providing for measures equivalent to those laid down in Council Directive 2003/48/EC on taxation of savings income in the form of interest payments. The Amending Protocol implements the Global Standard between EU Member States and Andorra. Its introduces a new set of provisions comprising 10 Articles, an Annex I that reflects the OECD Common Reporting Standard (CRS) which is part of the Global Standard, an Annex II that reflects important parts of the OECD Commentaries to the Global Standard and an Annex III that lists the Competent Authorities of Andorra and of each Member State. The new Articles reflect the articles of the OECD Model Competent Authority agreement for the implementation of the Global Standard . They include, inter alia: a full set of provisions on exchange of information upon request that follows the latest text of the OECD Model Tax Convention; a more detailed set of provisions on data protection; an additional stage of consultation before any Member State or Andorra undertakes to suspend the Agreement. Furthermore, the Protocol: deals with issues on the transition from the existing Agreement to the amended Agreement, with regard to requests for information, credits available to beneficial owners for withholding tax, final payments of withholding tax by Andorra to Member States and final exchanges of information under the voluntary disclosure mechanism; includes a Protocol on additional safeguards related to the exchange of information on request. The text specifies that exchanges on the basis of a group request are not excluded. The revised Agreement is supplemented by four Joint Declarations of the contracting parties and one Unilateral Declaration by Andorra.
  • date: 2016-02-12T00:00:00 type: Act adopted by Council after consultation of Parliament body: EP/CSL
  • date: 2016-02-25T00:00:00 type: Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading body: EP
  • date: 2016-02-25T00:00:00 type: Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading body: EP
  • date: 2016-02-29T00:00:00 type: Committee report tabled for plenary, 1st reading/single reading body: EP docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=REPORT&mode=XML&reference=A8-2016-0047&language=EN title: A8-0047/2016 summary: The Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs adopted the report by Miguel VIEGAS (GUE/NGL, PT) on the proposal for a Council decision on the conclusion, on behalf of the European Union, of the Amending Protocol to the Agreement between the European Community and the Principality of Andorra providing for measures equivalent to those laid down in Council Directive 2003/48/EC on taxation of savings income in the form of interest payments. The committee called on the European Parliament to approve the conclusion of the Amending Protocol to the Agreement. To recall, the European Union and Andorra signed an agreement on 12 February 2016 on the automatic exchange of financial account information, aimed at improving international tax cooperation and compliance. Under the new agreement, the EU Member States and Andorra will automatically exchange information on the financial accounts held on their territories by each other's residents, starting in 2018 for information collected since 1 January 2017. The aim is to address situations where a taxpayer seeks to hide capital representing income or assets for which taxes have not been paid. The agreement aims at ensuring that Andorra applies strengthened measures that are equivalent to the EU legal framework and that comply with the procedures for automatic exchange of financial account information promoted by the 2014 OECD Global standard. As a result of the new agreement, tax administrations in the Member States and in Andorra will be able to: identify correctly and unequivocally the taxpayers concerned; administer and enforce their tax laws in cross-border situations; assess the likelihood of tax evasion being perpetrated; avoid unnecessary further investigations. The EU and Andorra have agreed for the agreement to have an entry into force on 1 January 2017, subject to the completion of their respective internal procedures. The committee strongly urged that the agreement is concluded and ratified as soon as possible in order to ensure a timely entry into force.
  • date: 2016-03-09T00:00:00 type: Results of vote in Parliament body: EP docs: url: https://oeil.secure.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/sda.do?id=26882&l=en title: Results of vote in Parliament
  • date: 2016-03-09T00:00:00 type: Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading body: EP docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&language=EN&reference=P8-TA-2016-0077 title: T8-0077/2016 summary: The European Parliament adopted by 647 votes to 29, with 21 abstentions, a legislative resolution on the proposal for a Council decision on the conclusion, on behalf of the European Union, of the Amending Protocol to the Agreement between the European Community and the Principality of Andorra providing for measures equivalent to those laid down in Council Directive 2003/48/EC on taxation of savings income in the form of interest payments. Parliament approved the conclusion of the Amending Protocol to the Agreement. To recall, the European Union and Andorra signed an agreement on 12 February 2016 on the automatic exchange of financial account information, aimed at improving international tax cooperation and compliance. The agreement aims at ensuring that Andorra applies strengthened measures that are equivalent to the EU legal framework and that comply with the procedures for automatic exchange of financial account information promoted by the 2014 OECD Global standard. As a result of the new agreement, tax administrations in the Member States and in Andorra will be able to: identify correctly and unequivocally the taxpayers concerned; administer and enforce their tax laws in cross-border situations; assess the likelihood of tax evasion being perpetrated; avoid unnecessary further investigations. The Agreement shall enter into force on 1 January 2017, subject to the completion of their respective internal procedures.
  • date: 2016-09-20T00:00:00 type: Act adopted by Council after consultation of Parliament body: EP/CSL
  • date: 2016-09-20T00:00:00 type: End of procedure in Parliament body: EP
  • date: 2016-10-01T00:00:00 type: Final act published in Official Journal summary: PURPOSE: to approve the conclusion of an Agreement between the EU and Andorra aiming to improve tax compliance by private savers. NON-LEGISLATIVE ACT: Council Decision (EU) 2016/1751 on the conclusion, on behalf of the European Union, of the Amending Protocol to the Agreement between the European Community and the Principality of Andorra providing for measures equivalent to those laid down in Council Directive 2003/48/EC on taxation of savings income in the form of interest payments. CONTENT: the Council approved, on behalf of the European Union, the Amending Protocol to the Agreement between the European Community and the Principality of Andorra providing for measures equivalent to those laid down in Council Directive 2003/48/EC on taxation of savings income in the form of interest payments. The Amending Protocol to the Agreement between the European Community and the Principality of Andorra was signed on 12 February 2016. It aligns the Agreement with the latest developments at international level concerning automatic exchange of information , namely with the Global Standard for automatic exchange of financial account information in tax matters developed by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The text of the Agreement, as amended by the Amending Protocol, is the legal basis for implementing the OCDE Global Standard on automatic exchange of information between Andorra and the EU . It will extend the automatic exchange of information on financial accounts in order to prevent taxpayers from hiding capital representing income or assets for which tax has not been paid. EN TRY INTO FORCE: 21.10.2016. docs: title: Decision 2016/1751 url: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/smartapi/cgi/sga_doc?smartapi!celexplus!prod!CELEXnumdoc&lg=EN&numdoc=32016D1751 title: OJ L 268 01.10.2016, p. 0038 url: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=OJ:L:2016:268:TOC
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  • body: EC dg: url: http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/index_en.htm title: Taxation and Customs Union commissioner: MOSCOVICI Pierre
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  • The European Parliament adopted by 647 votes to 29, with 21 abstentions, a legislative resolution on the proposal for a Council decision on the conclusion, on behalf of the European Union, of the Amending Protocol to the Agreement between the European Community and the Principality of Andorra providing for measures equivalent to those laid down in Council Directive 2003/48/EC on taxation of savings income in the form of interest payments.

    Parliament approved the conclusion of the Amending Protocol to the Agreement.

    To recall, the European Union and Andorra signed an agreement on 12 February 2016 on the automatic exchange of financial account information, aimed at improving international tax cooperation and compliance.

    The agreement aims at ensuring that Andorra applies strengthened measures that are equivalent to the EU legal framework and that comply with the procedures for automatic exchange of financial account information promoted by the 2014 OECD Global standard.

    As a result of the new agreement, tax administrations in the Member States and in Andorra will be able to:

    • identify correctly and unequivocally the taxpayers concerned;
    • administer and enforce their tax laws in cross-border situations;
    • assess the likelihood of tax evasion being perpetrated;
    • avoid unnecessary further investigations.

    The Agreement shall enter into force on 1 January 2017, subject to the completion of their respective internal procedures.

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  • The Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs adopted the report by Miguel VIEGAS (GUE/NGL, PT) on the proposal for a Council decision on the conclusion, on behalf of the European Union, of the Amending Protocol to the Agreement between the European Community and the Principality of Andorra providing for measures equivalent to those laid down in Council Directive 2003/48/EC on taxation of savings income in the form of interest payments.

    The committee called on the European Parliament to approve the conclusion of the Amending Protocol to the Agreement.

    To recall, the European Union and Andorra signed an agreement on 12 February 2016 on the automatic exchange of financial account information, aimed at improving international tax cooperation and compliance.

    Under the new agreement, the EU Member States and Andorra will automatically exchange information on the financial accounts held on their territories by each other's residents, starting in 2018 for information collected since 1 January 2017. The aim is to address situations where a taxpayer seeks to hide capital representing income or assets for which taxes have not been paid.

    The agreement aims at ensuring that Andorra applies strengthened measures that are equivalent to the EU legal framework and that comply with the procedures for automatic exchange of financial account information promoted by the 2014 OECD Global standard.

    As a result of the new agreement, tax administrations in the Member States and in Andorra will be able to:

    • identify correctly and unequivocally the taxpayers concerned;
    • administer and enforce their tax laws in cross-border situations;
    • assess the likelihood of tax evasion being perpetrated;
    • avoid unnecessary further investigations.

    The EU and Andorra have agreed for the agreement to have an entry into force on 1 January 2017, subject to the completion of their respective internal procedures. The committee strongly urged that the agreement is concluded and ratified as soon as possible in order to ensure a timely entry into force.

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  • PURPOSE: to conclude, on behalf of the European Union, the Amending Protocol to the Agreement between the European Community and the Principality of Andorra providing for measures equivalent to those laid down in Council Directive 2003/48/EC on taxation of savings income in the form of interest payments.

    PROPOSED ACT: Council Decision.

    ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: the Council adopts the act after consulting the European Parliament but without being obliged to follow its opinion.

    BACKGROUND : following the adoption of Council Directive 2003/48/EC (‘the Savings Directive’), and in order to preserve the level playing field of economic operators, the EU signed Agreements with Switzerland, Andorra, Liechtenstein, Monaco and San Marino providing for measures equivalent to those laid down in the Directive. Member States also signed agreements with the dependent territories of the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.

    The importance of automatic exchange of information as a means to combat cross-border tax fraud and tax evasion has been recognised at international level. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) was mandated by the G20 to develop a single global standard for automatic exchange of financial account information. The OECD Council released the Global Standard in July 2014.

    Following the adoption of a proposal to update the Savings Directive, the Commission adopted on 17 June 2011 a recommendation for a mandate to initiate negotiations with several countries, including Andorra, in order to upgrade the EU’s Agreements with those countries in line with international developments and to ensure that those countries continue to apply measures equivalent to those in the EU.

    On the basis of a proposal presented by the Commission in June 2013, the Council adopted Directive 2014/107/EU amending Directive 2011/16/EU and extending the mandatory automatic exchange of information between EU tax authorities to a full range of financial items in accordance with the Global Standard.

    As Directive 2014/107/EU is generally broader in scope than Directive 2003/48/EC and provides that in cases of overlap of scope, Directive 2014/107/EU prevails, on 18 March 2015 the Commission adopted a proposal to repeal Directive 2003/48/EC.

    The Commission considers it crucial to ensure that the amendment of the existing Savings Agreement with Andorra is in line with EU and international developments.

    This will be the legal basis for implementing the OCDE Global Standard on automatic exchange of information between Andorra and the EU.

    CONTENT: the proposal calls upon the Council to approve, on behalf of the EU, the Amending Protocol to the Agreement between the European Community and Andorra providing for measures equivalent to those laid down in Council Directive 2003/48/EC on taxation of savings income in the form of interest payments.

    The Amending Protocol implements the Global Standard between EU Member States and Andorra. Its introduces a new set of provisions comprising 10 Articles, an Annex I that reflects the OECD Common Reporting Standard (CRS) which is part of the Global Standard, an Annex II that reflects important parts of the OECD Commentaries to the Global Standard and an Annex III that lists the Competent Authorities of Andorra and of each Member State.

    The new Articles reflect the articles of the OECD Model Competent Authority agreement for the implementation of the Global Standard. They include, inter alia:

    • a full set of provisions on exchange of information upon request that follows the latest text of the OECD Model Tax Convention;
    • a more detailed set of provisions on data protection;
    • an additional stage of consultation before any Member State or Andorra undertakes to suspend the Agreement.

    Furthermore, the Protocol:

    • deals with issues on the transition from the existing Agreement to the amended Agreement, with regard to requests for information, credits available to beneficial owners for withholding tax, final payments of withholding tax by Andorra to Member States and final exchanges of information under the voluntary disclosure mechanism;
    • includes a Protocol on additional safeguards related to the exchange of information on request. The text specifies that exchanges on the basis of a group request are not excluded.

    The revised Agreement is supplemented by four Joint Declarations of the contracting parties and one Unilateral Declaration by Andorra.

activities
  • date: 2015-12-11T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/docs_autres_institutions/commission_europeenne/com/2015/0631/COM_COM(2015)0631(ANN)_EN.pdf title: COM(2015)0631 type: Legislative proposal published celexid: CELEX:52015PC0631:EN body: EC type: Legislative proposal published commission:
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  • body: EP shadows: group: EPP name: SCHWAB Andreas group: S&D name: KOFOD Jeppe group: ECR name: LOONES Sander group: ALDE name: VAN NIEUWENHUIZEN Cora responsible: True committee: ECON date: 2015-09-10T00:00:00 committee_full: Economic and Monetary Affairs rapporteur: group: GUE/NGL name: VIEGAS Miguel
  • body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Internal Market and Consumer Protection committee: IMCO
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