ECOFIN Council - January 2013

	Story Title Story Description	ECOFIN Council - January 2013 The ECOFIN Council takes place on 22 January 2013, in Brussels, under the presidency of Michael Noonan, Minister for Finance of Ireland.
	Video Title Video Description	Roundtable Extracts from the roundtable during the ECOFIN Council on 22 January 2013, in Brussels.

Reference	98277	Video infos	Mpg4 / PAL - 16:9	Duration	00:04:54	Type	News package
Shooting Date	22-01-2013	Country	Belgium	Town	Brussels

Background	The Council takes note of the state of play on the decision authorising enhanced cooperation in the area of financial transaction tax (FTT) and may adopt the decision. In 2011, the Commission proposed a directive introducing an FTT throughout the EU, whose aim was for the financial industry, which many consider as under-taxed, to make a fair contribution to tax revenues, whilst also creating a disincentive for transactions that do not enhance the efficiency of financial markets, but subsequent discussions at the Council revealed that support for the proposal was insufficient. In the circumstances, 11 member states wrote to the Commission requesting a proposal for enhanced cooperation, specifying that the scope and objective of the FTT would be based on that of the Commission’s original proposal, which involved a harmonised minimum 0.1% tax rate for transactions in all types of financial instruments except derivatives (0.01% rate). In the context of the European Semester, the Council will discuss the Commission’s annual growth survey for 2013 with a view to adopting Council conclusions in February. The Commission’s survey outlines priority actions to be taken by member states in order to ensure better-coordinated and more effective policies for fostering sustainable economic growth. The presidency informs the Council of the follow-up to be given to the European Council’s meeting on 13 and 14 December as regards economic policy, with a focus on implementation of the “roadmap” for the completion of economic and monetary union. Furthermore, the Presidency presents, in public debate, its work programme in the economic and financial area and ministers hold an exchange of views on some of its items. The Council takes note of the Commission’s presentation of its communication “An Action Plan to strengthen the fight against tax fraud and tax evasion”, which sets out concrete steps to enhance administrative cooperation and to support the development of the existing good governance policy, as well as the wider issues of interaction with tax havens and tackling aggressive tax planning and other aspects, including tax-related crimes.

Background

The Council takes note of the state of play on the decision authorising enhanced
cooperation in the area of financial transaction tax (FTT) and may adopt the
decision. In 2011, the Commission proposed a directive introducing an FTT throughout the EU, whose aim was for the financial industry, which many consider as under-taxed, to make a fair contribution to tax revenues, whilst also creating a disincentive for transactions that do not enhance the efficiency of financial markets, but subsequent discussions at the Council revealed that support for the proposal was insufficient. In the circumstances, 11 member states wrote to the Commission requesting a proposal for enhanced cooperation, specifying that the scope and objective of the FTT would be based on that of the Commission’s original proposal, which involved a harmonised minimum 0.1% tax rate for transactions in all types of financial instruments except derivatives (0.01% rate). In the context of the European Semester, the Council will discuss the Commission’s annual growth survey for 2013 with a view to adopting Council conclusions in February. The Commission’s survey outlines priority actions to be taken by member states in order to ensure better-coordinated and more effective policies for fostering sustainable economic growth. The presidency informs the Council of the follow-up to be given to the European Council’s meeting on 13 and 14 December as regards economic policy, with a focus on implementation of the “roadmap” for the completion of economic and monetary union. Furthermore, the Presidency presents, in public debate, its work programme in the economic and financial area and ministers hold an exchange of views on some of its items. The Council takes note of the Commission’s presentation of its communication “An Action Plan to strengthen the fight against tax fraud and tax evasion”, which sets out concrete steps to enhance administrative cooperation and to support the development of the existing good governance policy, as well as the wider issues of interaction with tax havens and tackling aggressive tax planning and other aspects, including tax-related crimes.

TC	Thumbnail	Description
00:00:01		Klaus REGLING, Managing Director of the ESM Keywords : ECOFIN \| Regling \| Irish presidency Duration : 00:00:04
00:00:05		Klaus REGLING, Managing Director of the ESM; Vítor GASPAR, Minister for Finance of Portugal Keywords : Gaspar Duration : 00:00:05
00:00:10		Michel BARNIER, European Commissioner of Internal Market and Services (2 shots) Keywords : Barnier Duration : 00:00:11
00:00:21		Klaus REGLING, Managing Director of the ESM; Vítor GASPAR, Minister for Finance of Portugal Duration : 00:00:05
00:00:26		Cutaway Duration : 00:00:03
00:00:29		Michel BARNIER, European Commissioner of Internal Market and Services ; Simeon DJANKOV, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of Bulgaria Keywords : Djankov Duration : 00:00:07
00:00:36		Klaus REGLING, Managing Director of the ESM Duration : 00:00:03
00:00:39		Vítor GASPAR, Minister for Finance of Portugal Duration : 00:00:06
00:00:45		Margrethe VESTAGER, Minister for Economics and the Interior of Denmark (2 shots) Keywords : Vestager Duration : 00:00:16
00:01:01		Maria FEKTER, Federal Minister for Finance of Austria Keywords : Fekter Duration : 00:00:05
00:01:06		Vittorio Umberto GRILLI, Minister of Economy and Finance of Italy (2 shots) Keywords : Grilli Duration : 00:00:10
00:01:16		Michael NOONAN, Minister for Finance of Ireland (2 shots) Keywords : Noonan Duration : 00:00:18
00:01:34		Miroslav KALOUSEK, Minister for Finance of the Czech Republic Keywords : Kalousek Duration : 00:00:08
00:01:42		General view Duration : 00:00:05
00:01:47		Olli REHN, European Commissioner in charge of Economic and Monetary Affairs Keywords : Rehn Duration : 00:00:08
00:01:55		Margrethe VESTAGER, Minister for Economics and the Interior of Denmark; Michel BARNIER, European Commissioner of Internal Market and Services; Vasos SHIARLY, Minister of Finance of Cyprus (3 shots) Keywords : Shiarly Duration : 00:00:15
00:02:10		Olli REHN, European Commissioner in charge of Economic and Monetary Affairs; Michael NOONAN, Minister for Finance of Ireland; Vítor GASPAR, Minister for Finance of Portugal Duration : 00:00:05
00:02:15		Anders BORG, Minister for Finance of Sweden (3 shots) Keywords : Borg Duration : 00:00:13
00:02:28		Jeroen DIJSSELBLOEM, Minister of Finance of The Netherlands (3 shots) Keywords : Dijsselbloem Duration : 00:00:16
00:02:44		General view Duration : 00:00:09
00:02:53		Michel BARNIER, European Commissioner of Internal Market and Services; Jeroen DIJSSELBLOEM, Minister of Finance of The Netherlands (2 shots) Duration : 00:00:12
00:03:05		Janez ŠUŠTERŠIČ, Minister for Finance of Slovenia Keywords : Šušteršič Duration : 00:00:07
00:03:12		Miroslav KALOUSEK, Minister for Finance of the Czech Republic Duration : 00:00:06
00:03:18		Michael NOONAN, Minister for Finance of Ireland Duration : 00:00:03
00:03:21		General view Duration : 00:00:06
00:03:27		Vittorio Umberto GRILLI, Minister of Economy and Finance of Italy Duration : 00:00:02
00:03:29		General view Duration : 00:00:05
00:03:34		Michael NOONAN, Minister for Finance of Ireland (2 shots) Duration : 00:00:03
00:03:37		Luis DE GUINDOS, Minister of Economic Affairs and Competitiveness of Spain; Klaus REGLING, Managing Director of the ESM; Vítor GASPAR, Minister for Finance of Portugal; Olli REHN, European Commissioner in charge of Economic and Monetary Affairs (2 shots) Keywords : De Guindos Duration : 00:00:13
00:03:50		General view Duration : 00:00:03
00:03:53		Michael NOONAN, Minister for Finance of Ireland Duration : 00:00:04
00:03:57		Jeroen DIJSSELBLOEM, Minister of Finance of The Netherlands; Margrethe VESTAGER, Minister for Economics and the Interior of Denmark ; Maria FEKTER, Federal Minister for Finance of Austria Duration : 00:00:07
00:04:04		General view Duration : 00:00:06
00:04:10		Anders BORG, Minister for Finance of Sweden Duration : 00:00:04
00:04:14		Maria FEKTER, Federal Minister for Finance of Austria; Margrethe VESTAGER, Minister for Economics and the Interior of Denmark; Jeroen DIJSSELBLOEM, Minister of Finance of The Netherlands Duration : 00:00:04
00:04:18		Roundtable (8 shots) Duration : 00:00:35
00:04:53		End Duration : 00:00:01

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ECOFIN Council - January 2013

Roundtable