Austria dismissed calls yesterday to follow Luxembourg in ending bank secrecy but pressure grew as a group of Europe’s biggest countries prepared to outline plans to tackle tax evasion which is said to deprive EU governments of one trillion euros annually.
In blunt remarks on the sidelines of a meeting of European ministers, Austria’s finance minister described any exchange of information about account holders as an invasion of privacy and criticised other countries for failing to tackle what she called the real “hot spots” of money laundering.
“Austria is sticking to bank secrecy,” Maria Fekter told reporters in typically combative form, putting her country in a minority of one at a meeting of 27 EU ministers.
She attacked the Group of 20 top economies for not taking “any step to close the money laundering in all the islands like Cayman Islands, Virgin Islands or... in Delaware”.
But Fekter’s case was looking increasingly hopeless as ministers from Germany, France, Spain, Italy and Britain yesterday said they were preparing to outline their vision for cooperating to tackle tax evasion.
EU leaders will also discuss how to combat the issue when they meet at a summit next month, said the president of the European Council.
“We must seize the increased political momentum to address this critical problem,” Herman Van Rompuy, who chairs meetings of EU leaders, said in a broadcast statement.
The meeting of EU finance ministers in Dublin follows Luxembourg’s decision this week to share foreign bank account details with EU governments from 2015, bringing it into line with all other countries in the bloc bar one - Austria.
The discussion, which is set to continue today, could see some frank exchanges between Germany, whose finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble campaigned against bank secrecy, and Fekter, who has promised to fight “like a lion” to keep it.
“Automatic exchange of information involves a massive interference in people’s privacy rights,” Fekter has said. “Here the state sniffs around deep into the private affairs of account holders.”
Confidentiality is so cherished in Austria that banking secrecy is anchored in the Constitution. It has deep traditional roots.
Fekter faces a difficult fight. France, in particular, wants to underscore its determination to tackle tax fraud, one official said.
France’s former budget minister Jerome Cahuzac is under investigation for fraud after admitting lying about having a Swiss bank account, an affair that has prompted criticism of French President Francois Hollande.
It is unclear if Fekter will have her way even in Austria, with some voices pushing for a more moderate approach, including the country’s chancellor, Werner Faymann.
He has said it would be possible for Austria to share information on foreigners’ accounts without violating banking secrecy. (Reuters)