Caribbean News
Criticism growing for EU Blacklist
By Dana Malcolm
Staff Writer
October 28, 2022 – International organizations are joining Phillip Davis, Bahamian Prime Minister and E Jay Saunders, TCI Deputy Premier in highlighting the disparity between European countries and smaller nations in regard to tax blacklists.
In September at the UN General Assembly Davis said, “When we look at the countries that are flagged as high risk and blacklisted several startling commonalities emerge. Why are all the countries targeted small and vulnerable?”
A month later both The Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos were listed on the EUs blacklist of non-compliant tax jurisdictions along with several others.” 
In the aftermath of the Turks and Caicos, addition to the list in early October Oxfam International, a British-founded confederation of 21 independent charitable organizations focusing on the alleviation of global poverty, said this: “The current list makes the EU a hypocrite as major tax havens in Europe like Malta and Luxembourg escape the list while countries outside Europe like Eswatini and Botswana risk being blacklisted.”
An opinion piece published in the Guardian pointed out the disparity
“In the global fight against corruption, Caribbean nations like Trinidad and Tobago are blacklisted in a move that is gravely discriminatory— Pierre Moscovici, economic affairs commissioner, said ‘No one must get a free pass.’ Not one European country was listed; they all got a free pass.”
The Corporate Tax Haven Index which ranks jurisdictions ‘most complicit in helping multinational corporations avoid or underpay corporate income tax” lists 70 jurisdictions on its 2021 list. The European Union has a link to the list listed on their website and the Joint Research Centre at the European Commission has audited the list to judge its accuracy. It said
“In general, the CTHI is found to be robust”’ Despite the seal of approval not one of the single most prolific tax haven jurisdictions on the CTHI is listed in the EU’s tax blacklist. In fact two of the so-called most prolific are EU countries. The list includes
- The British Virgin Islands
- The Cayman Islands
- Bermuda
- The Netherlands
- Switzerland
- Luxembourg
- Hong Kong
- Jersey
- Singapore
- The United Arab Emirates
On the complete list of 70 jurisdictions described as ‘most complicit’ 28 EU countries were listed, that is to say, all of them.
In 2020, CARICOM asked the EU to desist from what it describes as “the ongoing unilateral, arbitrary and non-transparent blacklisting strategy employed by the European Union (EU) against CARICOM Member States.”
CARICOM maintained that the practice causes significant reputational risk and discourages investment.
Still the practice has continued.
KINGSTON, April 29 (JIS):
Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Senator the Hon. Matthew Samuda, says the outcome of discussions arising from the Jamaica National Stakeholder Consultation on Climate Services and the 1st National Climate Forum (NCF-1) will assist in guiding the Government’s planning for climate change.
This, he points out, is important for climate mitigation as well as building Jamaica’s resilience.
“We look forward to the discussions that will, no doubt, take place. We look forward to the basis of planning for the Government to streamline its investments to ensure you have the tools that you need to better advise us, that the WRA (Water Resources Authority) has the tools to digitise its monitoring network, and that all of the agencies that touch our planning mechanisms have the tools. But we need to know what we are facing, and we’re guided by your expertise,” Minister Samuda said.
He was addressing the opening ceremony for the Jamaica National Stakeholder Consultation on Climate Services and the 1st National Climate Forum (NCF-1) at the Courtyard by Marriott Hotel in New Kingston on Monday (April 29).
Senator Samuda said given the fact that the climate has changed and continues to do so, investments in and collaborations on building Jamaica’s predictive and scientific capacity must be prioritised.
“Ultimately, we need to be able to assess our current climatic realities if we are to better plan, if we’re to insist and ensure that our infrastructure meets the needs that we need it to. I’m very happy that this event is happening… because this is a critical issue.
“Jamaica, last year, faced its worst and most severe drought… and this year, we’re already seeing the impacts of not quite as severe a drought but, certainly, a drought with severe impacts, especially in the western part of the country,” he said.
Principal Director, Meteorological Service of Jamaica, Evan Thompson, explained that the forum aims to, among other things, establish a collaboration platform for climate services providers and users to understand risks and opportunities of past, present and future climate developments, as well as improve inter-agency coordination of policies, plans and programmes.
Among the other presenters were Ambassador, European Union to Jamaica, Her Excellency Marianne Van Steen; Chief Scientist/Climatologist, Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology, Adrian Trotman; and Head, Regional Climate Prediction Services, World Meteorological Organization, Wilfran Moufouma-Okia.
The Meteorological Service of Jamaica hosted the Jamaica National Stakeholder Consultation on Climate Services and the 1st National Climate Forum (NCF-1) in partnership with the Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology and the World Meteorological Organization.
The National Stakeholder Consultation is a governance mechanism that guides how different sectors or actors work together to create products that contribute to adaptation and resilience-building. It seeks to create a road map for the development and implementation of climate services to inform decision-making.
NCF-1 aims to bridge the gap between climate providers and users. It increases the use of science-based information in decision-making and operations with the aim of generating and delivering co-produced and co-designed products and services.
CONTACT: CHRIS PATTERSON
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