ECOFIN: November 2016

David Gauke Excerpts

Tuesday 8th November 2016 Written Statements

[The Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Mr David Gauke)]

A meeting of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) will be held in Brussels on 8 November 2016. EU Finance Ministers are due to discuss the following items:

Ministerial dialogue with the European Free Trade Association

ECOFIN will be preceded by a meeting of EU and EFTA Finance Ministers at which they will discuss issues of investment and economic growth.

Early morning briefing

Ministers will be briefed on outcomes of the 7 November meeting of the Eurogroup and the Commission will present an update on the current economic situation.

Commissioner Margrethe Vestager has been invited to the session to discuss state aid and taxation. Vestager has responsibility for enforcing competition rules in the areas of antitrust, cartels, mergers and state aid.

Building a fair, competitive and stable corporate tax system for the EU

Proposals on: a common corporate tax base; a common consolidated corporate tax base; double taxation dispute resolution mechanisms in the EU; and hybrid mismatches with third countries were published on 25 October 2016. The Commission will give a presentation on its proposals which will be followed by an exchange of views.

Anti-money laundering directive

The presidency will present on the current state of play on the fourth anti-money laundering directive. That will be followed by a ministerial discussion on this topic.

Current financial services legislative proposals

The Council presidency will provide an update on current legislative proposals in the field of financial services.

Statistics

Ministers will be briefed on EU statistics including the 2016 statistical package, the progress made on strengthening co-operation with Eurostat, and the European Statistical Governance Advisory Board report on the implementation of the European statistics code of practice.

Council conclusions will be presented for endorsement by Ministers.

European Court of Auditors’ annual report on the implementation of the 2015 budget

The European Court of Auditors will give a presentation on their annual report on the implementation of the 2015 budget.

Implementation of the banking union

Ministers are to discuss the current state of play on the implementation of the banking union.

Packaged retail and insurance-based investment products (PRIIPs) regulation

The Commission will provide an update on the current state of play in relation to the entry into force of the PRIIPS regulation.

Criteria and process leading to the establishment of the EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes

Ministers will discuss draft Council conclusions on the criteria and process leading to the establishment of the EU list of non-co-operative jurisdictions for tax purposes.

[HCWS243]