The European Union removed the Cayman Islands from its blacklist of tax havens, but added Anguilla and Barbados.
The Caymans, a British overseas territory, entered this list only last February, along with Panama.
Like Oman, also released, the finance ministers of the European Union estimated that they had
"adopted the reforms necessary to improve their tax regulations"
.
"If we welcome the addition of Barbados, removing the Cayman Islands, one of the most famous tax havens in the world, from the European Union's blacklist is proof that the process is not working
,
"
responded the NGO Oxfam.
Read also: Europe is extending its blacklist of tax havens
The European list, supposed to fight against the tax evasion of multinationals and big fortunes, was created in December 2017 following several scandals, including the Panama Papers and LuxLeaks.
After this last revision, it comprises 12 territories: Anguilla, Barbados, American Samoa, Fiji, Guam, Palau, Panama, Samoa, Seychelles, Trinidad and Tobago, the US Virgin Islands and Vanuatu.
Read also: France publishes a new blacklist of "tax havens"
Sanctions against “blacklisted” countries are fairly limited: they plan to freeze the European funds they could have received.
The list cannot include a jurisdiction that is a member of the European Union, but the Commission has recently planned to tackle tax evasion or aggressive strategies to optimize their taxes implemented by some multinationals within the Union itself.
In their sights: Ireland, Luxembourg or the Netherlands.
A vast project which comes up against the rule of unanimity on these subjects.
Like the Caymans, Anguilla is part of the British overseas territories regularly accused of opacity, in particular in connection with the City of London.
With Brexit, Europeans are worried about a possible drift in regulations in this area.
