The Commission has welcomed the agreement on fighting tax evasion reached at the EU summit, describing it as a ‘breakthrough’…

Date: 22/06/2000

...but warned that implementing the deal would require a lot of work. Commission spokesman Jonathan Faull said the deal was a "cause for satisfaction but is complicated". Under the deal, EU member states could eventually scrap their banking secrecy laws and move to a system of information exchange instead of withholding taxes - but only if the Union can persuade other countries to follow suit.