Achtergrondinformatie over de Europese Raad van 22 mei (en)
Brussels, 21 May 2013
BACKGROUND1 EUROPEAN COUNCIL Wednesday 22 May in Brussels
The European Council will, in the context of the EU's efforts to promote growth, jobs and competitiveness, discuss energy and taxation.
On energy, it will address the EU's energy policy against the backdrop of pressure on Europe's competitiveness and increasing energy demandfrom major economies. Building on the policy priorities and actions it set in February 2011, it will focus on certain key aspects, particularly those in relation with the EU's growth andjobs agenda, and will seek to give guidance to the Council.
On taxation, the European Council will focus on effective steps to fight tax evasion and tax fraud, as well as to tackle aggressive tax planning in order to protect revenues and enhance the effectiveness of tax systems. It is expected to call for rapid progress on a number of issues, including automatic exchange of information, taxation of savings interest and measures to counter VAT fraud.
Indicative programme:
13.00 exchange of views with the President of the European Parliament
13.30 family photo
13.45 working lunch
17.00 press conference
Full media programme
Invitation letter by President Herman Van Rompuy
• Media accreditation: http://www. consilium.europa, eu/
• Press conferences by video streaming: http://video.consilium.europa.eu/
• Video coverage in broadcast quality (MPEG4): http://tvnewsroom.consilium.europa.eu
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This note has been drawn up under the responsibility of the press office
Energy
Following an introduction by the Commission President, José Manuel Barroso, Heads of State or Government will intervene on one of the three following questions. To foster EU competiveness, growth and jobs, what should be done at the level of the EU to further increase energy efficiency? To further develop indigenous resources? And to achieve more predictable energy policy, as a prerequisite to attract the necessary investments into a modern energy infrastructure?
Against the backdrop of pressure on Europe's competitiveness and increasing energy demand from major economies, the European Council will address the EU's energy policy, which aims to ensure uninterrupted supply of households and companies at affordable and competitive prices. While the policy priorities and actions set by the European Council in February 2011 remain valid and must continue to be implemented, further work is required. The European Council will focus on certain key aspects, particularly those in relation with the EU's growth and jobs agenda
The European Council will assess progress made towards completing the internal energy market by 2014. In this context, member states are expected to confirm their commitment to proper and swift implementation of internal energy market legislation and in particular the third energy package
The European Council will also call for investments that are needed for the modernisation of the energy infrastructure and in building the necessary interconnections, in order to meet the 2015 ambition of putting an end to the isolation of certain member states from European gas and electricity networks. It is expected to call in particular for the swift implementation of the T-energy regulation and adoption of the list of common projects, as well as the adoption of the directive on the deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure
The European Council is expected to underline the importance of further intensifying the diversification of Europe's energy supply and developing indigenous energy resources
The European Council is also expected to call for work to be taken forward on the impact of high energy prices and costs. This includes work on energy efficiency and on innovative modalities of financing
Taxation
On taxation, heads of state or government will focus on effective steps to fight tax evasion and tax fraud, as well as to tackle aggressive tax planning in order to protect revenues and enhance the effectiveness of tax systems. The European Council is expected to call for rapid progress on a number of issues, including automatic exchange of information, taxation of savings interest and measures to counter VAT fraud
The European Council is expected to welcome the agreement reached by the ECOFIN Council on a negotiating mandate for strengthened savings tax agreements with Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Andorra and San Marino (seepress release ).
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Heads of state and government will also focus their discussion on other aspects of the automatic exchange of information that have gained momentum following the launch by five member states of a pilot initiative. The next step will be to enshrine automatic exchange within an EU framework in order to promote it as a global standard. To that end the EU will develop strong coordinated positions in the G8, G20 and OECD frameworks
The European Council is also expected to call for urgent action to address VAT fraud. This includes measures such as the "quick reaction mechanism", which will enable rapid intervention by member states in cases of sudden and massive fraud, and the "reverse charge mechanism", which specifically targets carrousel fraud