CARICOM is pushing back against the European Union’s (EU) continuous threatened blacklisting of countries in the region.
Barbados’ Ambassador to CARICOM David Comissiong says regional governments have recognised the threat for what it is and have devised “a very multi-faceted and comprehensive strategy” to deal with it.
On Thursday, while updating the media on last month’s 30th Inter-Sessional meeting of CARICOM Heads of Government, Comissiong said all the Heads would be participating “in a strategy of reaching out to the member states of the EU, defending the region’s sovereignty and making it clear to the EU that the persistent threats of black-listing are not permissible.”
Comissiong said the EU had for some time been either “unilaterally” blacklisting CARICOM member states, or threatening to take such action, alleging these countries were not compliant with EU standards of tax good governance.
He pointed out that Barbados had been a victim, causing the island to take the initiative of doing a convergence between the tax rates applied to international companies versus rates applied to local companies. As a result, tax rates for international companies have been increased, while rates for Barbadian companies have been reduced. (GC)
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