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EU finance ministers have decided today to remove eight countries from the EU’s blacklist for tax havens, rushing to take countries off the blacklist without it being clear what they have actually committed to improve.

The European Union, which holds eight seats out of twenty four on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) board, has made an offer to rotate some of their IMF board seats with middle-income countries

EU finance ministers today discussed the future "EU blacklist" for tax havens. The proposal says that a 0% tax rate will only be seen as an "indicator" that a particular country or a tax jurisdiction should be screened - but that further analysis will be required before they end up on any blacklist.In reaction, Oxfam’s EU tax expert Aurore Chardonnet said:“It's welcome that the EU now accepts that a 0% tax rate is potentially harmful, but it is more serious than simply being an ‘indicator’ that warrants investigation. A 0% tax…

European aid to poor countries is stalling two years ahead of the UN Millennium Development Goals deadline, with aid cut or stagnant in 19 member states, reveals the new Concord AidWatch report.

Europe currently wastes land the size of Ireland on crops for biofuels which is an obstacle to tackling the climate crisis and food security, a new study shows. The study commissioned by T&E shows that this land could be used to feed 120 million people or, if given back to nature, could absorb twice as much CO2 as is supposedly saved by powering cars with biofuels. Using an area equivalent to just 2.5% of this land for solar panels would produce the same amount of energy.

EU Development Ministers have just recommited to an old promise made by donors back in 1970s, failing to provide any guarantees to poor countries that Europe is serious about getting back on track to meet the Millennium Development Goals, warns Oxfam.

Today the European Parliament adopted the report by its Panama Papers inquiry committee and voted in favor of recommendations aimed at stopping corporate tax avoidance across the European Union. Oxfam welcomes the Parliament's call for EU member states to adopt the reforms needed to end corporate tax abuses.

Elise Ford, Head of Oxfam’s EU office, said:

International development organizations Oxfam, Plan, Eurodad and Concern Worldwide called today on EU leaders, meeting tomorrow for the first time to examine Europe’s role as a global power, to shift gear in their response to Pakistan.

Faltering overseas aid figures announced today are depriving poor countries of a massive $18bn worth of life-saving aid, at a time when 64 million more people globally have been pushed into poverty by the financial crisis.