EU ministers adopt blacklist of 17 tax havens – officials

EU finance ministers adopted on Tuesday a blacklist of tax havens which includes 17 extra-EU jurisdictions seen as not cooperative on tax matters, Reuters reported, citing two EU officials. The EU had considered putting 20 nations on a blacklist of countries it deems guilty of unfairly offering tax avoidance schemes. EU Taxation Commissioner Pierre Moscovici says ahead of the meeting of EU finance ministers that the nations being considered had refused to cooperate and change their way “despite ten months of dialogue.” High-tax countries like France have pushed for the blacklist and a Europe-wide crackdown on tax havens, according to AP.