An Agreement between the European Union and the French Republic concerning the application to the collectivity of Saint-Barthélemy of Union legislation on the taxation of savings and administrative cooperation in the field of taxation was signed today, by ECOFIN President, Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras, the French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici on behalf of the collectivity of Saint-Barthélemy and Commissioner Algirdas Semeta on behalf of the European Commission.

“The signing of this Agreement is a strong expression of the willingness of France and the EU to ensure continuity and consistency in the fight against tax fraud and tax evasion. The Presidency would therefore like to congratulate you on this”, said ECOFIN President Yannis Stournaras addressing his French counterpart and the Commissioner for Taxation and Customs Union, Audit and Anti-Fraud. He added that “one key element for tackling these issues is the sharing of information between national Fiscal authorities, be it at global level […] or at ΕU level, by the application of the Savings Directive and the Directive on Administrative cooperation”.

In accordance with the provisions of European Council Decision 2010/718/EU, the island of Saint-Barthélemy ceased to be an outermost region of the European Union with effect from 1 January 2012 and gained the status of overseas country or territory referred to in Part Four of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). The French Republic had undertaken to conclude the agreements necessary to ensure that the interests of the Union were preserved when the change took place, to ensure, inter alia, that the mechanisms of Council Directive 2011/16/EU on administrative cooperation in the field of taxation and of Council Directive 2003/48/EC on the taxation of savings would also apply to Saint-Barthélemy following its change of status. The decision on the signing and the text of the Agreement were adopted by the ECOFIN on 15.11.2013.