Council Decision (EU) 2015/2400 of 8 December 2015 on the conclusion, on behalf of the European Union, of the

What it is

to conclude, on behalf of the European Union, the Amending Protocol to the Agreement between the European Community and Switzerland 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. ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: Council may adopt the act only if Parliament has given its consent to the act. 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 providing for measures equivalent to those laid down in the Directive. The importance of automatic exchange of information as a means to combat cross-border tax fraud and tax evasion by ensuring full tax transparency and cooperation between tax administrations worldwide has also been recognised at the 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 Global Standard was released by the OECD Council in July 2014. PURPOSE: the conclusion of the Amending Protocol to the Agreement between the European Community and the Swiss Confederation, 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 proposal for a Council Decision seeks the approval, on behalf of the European Union, of the Amending Protocol to the Agreement between the European Union and the Swiss Confederation 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 text of the Amending Protocol aligns the Agreement with the latest developments at international level concerning automatic exchange of information, namely the Global Standard for automatic exchange of financial account information in tax matters developed by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The Union, its Member States and the Swiss Confederation have actively participated in the work of the OECD. For further details of the Amending Protocol, please refer to the summary of the Commission’s initial legislative procedure dated 7.4.2015 . The Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs adopted the report by Jeppe KOFOD (S&D, DK) on the draft Council decision on the conclusion, on behalf of the European Union, of the Amending Protocol to the Agreement between the European Community and the Swiss Confederation 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 recommended the Parliament to approve the draft Council decision as amended and approves conclusion of the agreement . Members regretted however that no improvements can be made, particularly regarding information provided and the automatic, binding and unrestricted nature of exchanges of information. They called on the Commission to keep the Parliament informed in case of any…

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