Bolkestein baulks

On a recent visit to meet with the Chancellor, Frits Bolkestein, the European commissioner for taxation and the single market, said that the latest British proposals to breach the impasse over the proposed EU-wide withholding tax would not be acceptable to at least two member states. They would not be able to countenance the restrictions on banking secrecy. The British government has supported information sharing as an alternative to a straight savings tax as a way of preventing tax evasion and its latest paper, which was placed before finance ministers in Brussels at the end of February, proposes that the exchange of data should extend to states outwith the EU. Mr Bolkestein said that it would be easier to achieve agreement on information-sharing between member states first; seeking consensus beyond EU borders at the same time could postpone resolution of the savings tax issue indefinitely, he observed.