The Commission welcomed today’s agreement by Member States on their general approach for far-reaching new rules to eliminate the most common corporate tax avoidance practices.

Pierre Moscovici, Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Taxation and Customs, said: *”Today’s agreement strikes a serious blow against those engaged in corporate tax avoidance. For too long, some companies have been able to take advantage of the mismatches between different Member States tax systems to avoid billions of euros in tax. I congratulate our Member States who are now fighting back and working together to make the changes needed to ensure that these companies pay their fair share of tax. I also thank The Netherlands Presidency for their dedication in achieving this deal.”*

The release [issued today](http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-16-1886_en.htm?locale=en&j=1768045&e=dcomito@bfsb-bahamas.com&l=346_HTML&u=28572559&mid=1062735&jb=0) says The Commission will continue its campaign for corporate tax reform throughout 2016, come. In another related development, Member States have also signalled their intention to compile a common EU list of third country tax jurisdictions that don’t conform to international tax good governance standards.