At last month's meeting, the Finance Ministers EU Council adopted conclusions on harmful tax competition; and discussed excise duties and VAT on financial services.

The Council has called on the incoming presidency to build on progress made on the proposal for a directive on the VAT treatment of insurance and other financial services and to report back to the Council by the end of the year.

The Council has called on the incoming presidency to build on progress made in relation to excise, with a view to the timely adoption of the directive so as to enable a new excise movement and control system to start operating as soon as possible.

The Council adopted the following conclusions with regard to the Harmful Tax Competition Code of Conduct:

• welcomed the progress achieved by the Code of Conduct Group (Business Taxation) as set out in its report
• asked the Group to continue monitoring standstill and the implementation of rollback and report to the Council before the end of the French Presidency
• underlined the importance of agreement on the future work programme and, building on the work of the Group, will return to the outstanding issues under the French Presidency