Main results of the Ecofin Council Meeting with the EFTA countries
Kristin Halvorsen, Christine Lagarde, Doris Leuthard
© Consiglio dell’Unione europea
- from: 04.11.2008
- to: 04.11.2008
- In: Bruxelles
Christine Lagarde chaired an ECOFIN Council meeting with the countries of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA - Iceland, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Norway). This meeting was an opportunity to exchange views on the financial crisis, its consequences and to draw lessons from it, particularly with regard to transparency in financial and tax matters.
Concerning the financial crisis, Ministers held lengthy discussions on Iceland's situation.
Christine Lagarde chaired an ECOFIN Council meeting with the countries of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA - Iceland, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Norway). This meeting was an opportunity to exchange views on the financial crisis, its consequences and to draw lessons from it, particularly with regard to transparency in financial and tax matters.
Christine Lagarde also insisted on the importance of drawing all the lessons from the current crisis, which in her opinion showed that areas of non-transparency could not be allowed to remain within the global financial system. This subject will also be addressed by the European Heads of State and Government on 7 November, and during the international summit on 15 November in Washington.
In particular, the current obstacles hampering the exchange of information between the supervisory authorities of the European Union and their Swiss and Liechtensteiner counterparts should be removed. At present, slow procedures and the flawed transposition of European regulations into national law are making it difficult for European supervisors to cooperate adequately with their counterparts. This subject will continue to be followed up in the framework of high-level bilateral political dialogues.
Lastly, the Ministers also discussed the issue of combating tax fraud in Europe and agreed to step up efforts in this area. The Ministers agreed to continue work with Liechtenstein in view of signing an anti-fraud agreement that would enable it to settle all the current problems.
- Updated: 05.11.2008
