Today the European Commission put forward a proposal to tackle tax fraud and evasion - estimated around 1 trillion euro - from every angle and level, from national to international. These ideas will serve as a working basis to publish at the end of the year an Action Plan and initiatives against tax havens.

"We need a strong EU framework to reinforce the fight against tax fraud and tax evasion in the EU. Most important is to enforce automatic exchange of information between EU and third countries. Bilateral agreements between EU Member States and those with third countries have proven to be not enough against these national and cross-border scourges. There is a need for Member States to give to the EU the right to coordinate the content and to find a common template for the treaties between them and tax havens, otherwise tax evasion will continue", said ALDE spokesperson on tax issues Olle Schmidt's (Folkpartiet, Sweden) welcoming the Commission's ideas and for proposing new tools that would provide EU citizens with better quality information on EU and national tax rules such as single Tax Webportal and the development of a Taxpayers' Charter.

"In times of fiscal austerity we also need to claim back the untaxed tens of billions of euros off-shore to increase tax revenues which would help the real economy. EU Member States must set up and implement effective tax systems that prevent their tax bases from being unduly eroded because of non-taxation and abuse", continued Mr Schmidt who was the EP Rapporteur for the European Annual tax report for 2011.

"Member States must also reach an agreement on the reform of the Savings Tax Directive to enforce automatic information exchange. We need a Savings Directive in place in order to ensure fair and appropriate taxation of savings in the EU", concluded Olle Schmidt recalling that the Savings Directive is still blocked within the Council.