PURPOSE: to conclude 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.
PROPOSED ACT: Council Decision.
ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: Council may adopt the act only if Parliament has given its consent to the act.
BACKGROUND: under European Council Decision 2010/718/EU, the territorial collectivity of Saint-Barthélemy ceased to be an outermost region of the Union and gained the status of overseas country or territory on 1 January 2012.
Decision 2010/718/EU noted that France had undertaken to conclude the agreements necessary to ensure that the interests of the Union were preserved when the change took place.
To further progress on such agreements, a Council Decision of 20 October 2011, which was sent to the European Commission on 24 October 2011, authorised the Commission to negotiate the terms. Specifically, the authorisation concerned an agreement between the French Republic, acting for Saint-Barthélemy, and the Union that provided, for that territory, for the application of Union legislation on the taxation of savings and administrative cooperation in the field of taxation
This is the subject of the proposal in question.
IMPACT ASSESSMENT: an impact assessment was not undertaken.
LEGAL BASIS: Articles 113 and 115, in conjunction with Article 218(6)(b) and (8), second subparagraph, of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).
CONTENT: the objective is to conclude an agreement providing for the application to Saint-Barthélemy of the mechanisms laid down in:
To this end, further legislative developments in these areas should be taken into account so that the arrangements applicable to Saint-Barthélemy are equivalent to those applicable in mainland France.
On the question of taxation of savings, the Agreement has to cover interest payments, as defined in Article 6 of Council Directive 2003/48/EC and any amendments, made by paying agents established in Saint-Barthélemy to beneficial owners resident in the EU.
N.B. the Agreement is rendered dynamic since it covers not only future amendments to the two Directives but also any current or future delegated and implementing acts. This is needed to ensure identical treatment at all times in situations within the European Union and between the Member States and Saint-Barthélemy.
Definitions: the Agreement lays down what is meant by competent authorities, central liaison offices, liaison departments and competent officials. This is to ensure consistency with any national measures transposing Council Directives 2011/16/EU and 2003/48/EC which have been taken, or will be taken, by the Member States.
Statistics: France shall be responsible for the provision to the European Commission of statistics, and information on the application of the Agreement to the collectivity of Saint-Barthélemy.
Settlement of disputes: provision is made for the settlement of disputes as follows:
Duration of the Agreement: the Agreement shall be valid indeterminately.
BUDGETARY IMPLICATION: the proposal has no implications for the EU’s budget.