Economic and Financial Affairs Council, 8 November 2016

A meeting of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council was held on 8 November 2016. The agenda included the following topics:

+ Presentation by the European Commission on its package of proposals regarding the corporate tax system, followed by an exchange of views;

+ Discussion on an agreement regarding the criteria for screening non-EU jurisdictions, the list of jurisdictions to be screened, and the procedural guidelines on how such screening should be conducted. This is part of the Council's response to the Commission's package of proposals to tackle corporate tax avoidance;

+ Briefing by the Commission on its plans concerning the possible postponement of the date of application of the PRIIPs regulation;

+ Endorsement of an amendment to the code of conduct for the implementation of the EU's fiscal governance rules;

+ Adoption of conclusions on improvements to VAT rules for cross-border transactions, in response to questions raised by the VAT Action Plan issued by the Commission in April and as a follow-up to the Council conclusions on this subject in May;

+ Agreement on a general approach regarding a proposal for a directive granting access to tax authorities to information held by authorities with responsibility for the prevention of money laundering;

+ Adoption of conclusions on the challenges that healthcare policies may cause to fiscal sustainability in the European Union, following a report on healthcare and long-term care system in the member states drafted by the Economic Policy Committee with the Commission;

+ Briefing on legislative proposals regarding financial services, and on the implementation of the banking union legislation;

+ Information on the state of play regarding negotiations for an agreement between Norway and the EU on administrative cooperation, combatting fraud and recovery of claims in the field of VAT;

+ Exchange of views on the European Court of Auditors' annual report regarding the implementation of the EU budget in 2015;

+ Adoption of conclusions on the state of play, achievements and prospects for European cooperation on statistics.

Other topics: Endorsement of amending budget proposals.

The annual meeting between the EFTA and ECOFIN finance ministers also took place on this day.

• Primary Source

ESO: Economic and Financial Affairs Council, 11 October 2016 http://www.europeansources.info/record/economic-and-financial-affairs-council-11-october-2016/

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