EU's finance minsiters agreed to fight against havens

Finance ministers of the six largest European Union nations have agreed to fight together against tax havens. The move is seen as an attempt to persuade Austria to change its strict bank secrecy laws. 

In a joint press conference in Dublin Friday, finance ministers of Germany, France, Britain, Italy, Spain and Poland announced its intention to promote transparency of the banks in Europe and beyond.

"Nobody can deny that bank secrecy is outdated, we need an effective system to address avoidance strategies," said French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici reporters as he stood alongside their counterparts from the other countries.

 "Our mission is to create momentum. When these six major European capitals move together, it creates a strong signal that no one can resist." Conference of the Ministers of news following the announcement of EU president Herman Van Rompuy that the issue of tax evasion would be on the agenda of the upcoming summit of EU leaders in May.

"Tax evasion is unfair to citizens who work hard and pay their share of taxes for society to function," Rompuy said, adding that € 1 trillion ($ 1.3 trillion) annually in lost tax evasion and avoidance. "It is unfair to businesses that pay their taxes, but find it difficult to compete because others do not.

" Finance ministers said its fight against tax evasion would also extend beyond the EU. "This fight, this is not only national, European struggle - but a global struggle," Moscovici said. "Our message to those who try to evade taxes is: places to hide are getting smaller and smaller," added the Briton George Osborne.

Austria is adamant Maria Fekter, Austria's finance minister, called the push for new rules simply 'government is snooping. Austria is seen as the last bastion of the Luxembourg banking secrecy after announced he would inform other EU countries from 2015 on interest earned by its residents.

Austria Fekter said "stick to" the constitutional protection of privacy guaranteed by the depositors, calling automatic exchange of account information "massive intrusion of privacy." The EU should focus its efforts on the British territories in the Caribbean and elsewhere, said Fekter, including the Cayman Islands, the Virgin Islands, the Channel Islands and Gibraltar.

The real hot spots for money laundering and tax evasion "places called Austria Opposition gets contradicts other EU nations as the block 27 ministers are prepared to begin discussions on the subject in its entirety on Saturday. Fekter has pledged to "fight like a lion" to keep his country's strict banking secrecy laws, while his German counterpart, Wolfgang Schäuble, has campaigned against the policy.

"Each country is independent in its own fiscal policy, but this also means that they should not prevent other countries to tax their own citizens legally, "said Schäuble journalists.