New tax haven blacklist is a warning to the UK

The EPP Group warns the United Kingdom against trying to become a tax haven on the doorstep of the European Union and calls for "serious and appreciable sanctions" against countries on the EU blacklist of tax havens.

“The UK would be well advised to take note that EU Finance Ministers put a British Overseas Territory on the blacklist of tax havens. This sends a clear signal that the idea of turning the UK into a tax haven will not be acceptable to the EU. If the British Government intends to do so, there is a good chance it will end up on the EU’s blacklist as well," said Markus Ferber MEP, EPP Group Spokesman on Economic and Monetary affairs, ahead of today's meeting of EU Finance Ministers.

Finance Ministers will add the British Overseas Territory Cayman Islands to the list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes, the so-called blacklist of tax havens.

Ferber also criticises the method by which the list is set up and deplores the lack of consequences. "There are far more tax havens than the dozen or so countries currently on the list. Presently, the EU blacklist still lacks the necessary teeth. If in doubt, a country should be moved more quickly from the greylist to the blacklist. Once on the blacklist, it needs serious and appreciable sanctions. Otherwise the list fails to be an effective deterrent,” Ferber stressed.