Cayman Islands Bemoan Lack Of Representation Before EU

by Amanda Banks, Tax-News.com, London

25 July 2002

Representatives of the Cayman Islands government were shocked to discover recently that the jurisdiction has no representation within the European Union over the EC-OCT agreement, meaning that its voice will not be heard on issues such as the EU Savings Tax Directive.

The Cayman Net News service reported this week that during a recent visit to Brussels designed to foster an ongoing relationship with the 15 nation bloc, the UK's representative to the EU, Laurie Lee informed the Caymanian delegation - comprising the Leader of Government Business, the Honourable McKeeva Bush, Dr Christopher Rose, Executive Director of the Finance and Economics Secretariat, and the Cayman Islands Government Representative in the UK, Jennifer Dilbert - that the jurisdiction does not qualify for any of the EU's financial aid programmes, and that it is not entitled to representation before the Union.

'According to the EU representatives, the UK had made representation on behalf of Bermuda to have Bermuda exempted from the latest EC-OCT Decision last year. Had the Cayman Islands made representation in 1999 or by the deadline of August 2001, the Cayman Islands could also have been exempted from the decision. However, the Cayman Islands failed to make such a request in either year,' the news service reported.

The OCT (Overseas Countries and Territories) Decision relates to competition policies, and calls for 'the introduction and implementation of effective and sound competition policies and rules in order to improve and secure an investment friendly climate, a sustainable industrialization process and transparency in the access markets.'

The Decision also requires 'the prohibition of agreements which have as their object or effect the prevention, restriction or distortion of competition'.

The Decision brought the European Union's savings tax initiative to the fore, and it is becoming increasingly clear that the United Kingdom intends to aggressively promote the adoption of the EU's information exchange scheme in its dependent territories.

'With no representation, this initiative, slated to be finalized by year-end, will be endorsed by EU members and signed into law. At that point, there will be no negotiations and a collective Cayman opposition will go unnoticed,' Cayman Net News warned on Wednesday.

Recommended