As the European Voice has noted:
EU Finance ministers fail to reach deal on tax avoidance
That's the depressing out come of yesterday's ECOFIN meeting. As was also noted:
Maria Fekter, the finance minister of Austria, the last country to oppose a revision of the EU's savings tax directive, said during today's meeting of finance ministers that while she “accepted” the text of the draft legislation, it was too early to approve it.Luxembourg, which ended an eight-year resistance to the proposals in April, also did not approve the revision of the rules during today's meeting.
The consequence is that Luxembourg and Austria stood up for tax crime and those who facilitate it. Let's not pretend they did anything else. There is no other interpretation available for their opposition to an arrangement whose sole aim is beating tax evasion.
Thankfully the game is not over yet:
The failure sets up the possibility of a row at the summit of member state leaders next week (15 May) where most countries will put pressure on Austria and Luxembourg to give in.
We can but hope.
But in the meantime the criminals are in charge in Austria and Luxembourg, and it's right to name them as such.
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