Videoconference of EU economics and finance ministers: Taxation and Europe's economic situation are on tomorrow’s agenda
On Tuesday, 1 December 2020, EU i ministers of economics and finance will meet virtually under the auspices of the German Presidency of the Council of the EU.
Agenda items will include administrative cooperation in the field of taxation, conclusions on the European Commission’s action plan on the capital markets union, the Commission’s autumn forecast, the G20 i meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors on 13 November 2020 and international taxation, among other issues.
Administrative cooperation in the field of taxation
The objective is to reach a consensus within the European Council regarding the Council directive on administrative cooperation in the field of taxation (known as DAC 7). The draft directive is aimed at strengthening administrative cooperation in the field of direct taxation. The proposal will introduce an obligation for digital platforms to record information on users that generate income on digital platforms and to report this information to tax authorities. The tax authorities will then automatically exchange this information with each other, in order to ensure that the platform users’ economic activities are taxed. Optimising administrative cooperation and transparency in the area of taxation will help to systematically fight tax evasion and tax avoidance and actively promote fair taxation. The EU-wide introduction of a reporting obligation for operators of digital platforms will close existing tax loopholes in relation to the growing platform economy and will strengthen competition between digital and traditional business models.
Action plan on the capital markets union
The ministers will discuss the draft conclusions on the European Commission’s action plan on the capital markets union. Deepening the capital markets union is one of the priorities of the German Council Presidency. For this reason, the German government, in its role as current holder of the Presidency, has prepared supportive and generally positive Council conclusions on the new action plan on the capital markets union, which the European Commission published at the end of September. The draft conclusions advocate prioritising the measures proposed in the action plan, with the aim of providing the Commission with recommendations for its further work in this area.
Europe’s economic situation: autumn forecast
The European Commission will present its autumn forecast regarding economic trends in Europe. The economic recovery was more dynamic over the course of the summer than had been expected. However, current infection trends have interrupted the recovery. Given the current situation, economic predictions are still accompanied by significant uncertainty. The member states and the EU institutions will continue to closely monitor the economic situation. The German Council Presidency is currently engaged in intensive discussions with the European Parliament on the swift implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Facility to support reforms and investments in the member states. Agreement was already reached within the Council in October.
International debt relief: review of the G20 meeting
The Presidency and the European Commission will brief economics and finance ministers on the extraordinary G20 meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors which took place on 13 November 2020. A debt restructuring framework, known as the Common Framework for Debt Treatments beyond the Debt Service Suspension Initiative, was adopted and published at the meeting. The ECOFIN Council is expected to adopt conclusions on this framework which welcome the international efforts on debt relief, especially for African countries. At their meeting on 14 October 2020, G20 countries already extended the debt moratorium for highly indebted developing countries by six months, until the end of June 2021. By backing these multilateral efforts, the German government is supporting the world’s poorest countries during the COVID-19 crisis.
International taxation
There will also be an exchange of views on the topic of international taxation. As the German Council Presidency draws to a close, the EU economics and finance ministers will have the opportunity to discuss the current state of play and the next steps to further enhance the European architecture for fair and effective taxation, which has been the focus of the German Council Presidency’s work on taxation. Consisting of various elements, the European architecture for fair and effective taxation will ensure that, in a strong and sovereign EU, competition can thrive in the internal market and beyond, and that the member states have sufficient financial resources at their disposal to fund measures for the common good of their citizens. Under the German Council Presidency, the member states agreed on a common approach in the area of international taxation, including a minimum effective tax.
Info
Further information on the Videoconference of EU economics and finance ministers can be found on the website of the Council of the EU. The public session of the videoconference, which starts at 10.05, can be seen on the same website, as can a press conference following the meeting. German Federal Minister of Finance Olaf Scholz and Valdis Dombrovskis, Vice President of the European Commission, will take part in the press conference, which begins around 14.00.
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