Morocco is no longer on the EU's grey list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes. The EU General Affairs Council, bringing together the 27 European Foreign Ministers, adopted its conclusions on non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes, namely the formal EU act which confirms the positive opinion of the Code of Conduct Group of the EU Council (CCG) and removed Morocco from Annex II - the list of jurisdictions awaiting an assessment by the EU on its commitments in tax matters. The Conclusions of the Council of the EU, approved this morning on the final and definitive step in the procedure which follows the green light from the Ambassadors of the Member States of the EU and confirms: The Kingdom is definitively removed from the grey list of de the EU and therefore becomes "Green Listed".
This development demonstrates that the reforms undertaken by the Kingdom in fiscal matters are in line with EU conditions and international standards, it also testifies to the positive cooperation between the Moroccan and European authorities on this subject. As a reminder, Morocco is one of the countries that are committed to bringing their tax systems into line with good governance standards, as part of improving tax transparency at the global level.
For this reason, several legislative provisions have been adopted depending on the nature of each tax system as part of the reform process initiated since the finance law for the year 2018. Throughout the process of evaluating its tax system, Morocco is pleased to have succeeded in convincing the OECD and its European partners of the realism of its vision, which consists on the one hand in proving its firm determination to comply with the standards of good tax governance by taking the necessary measures in a transparent manner and gradual and on the other hand to ensure the protection of its socio-economic interests.
This positive appraisal was expected since the visit of the Minister of Economy and Finance Mohamed Benchaaboun to Brussels in February 2020, and his meeting with his European counterpart, the commissioner Paolo Gentiloni, who leads the direction of the European Commission on taxation (TAXUD), responsible for proposing to the CCG the technical considerations and evaluations on the basis of which the list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes is constituted.
At the end of this evaluation process, Morocco notes with satisfaction the decision to definitively withdraw from the "grey" list. This decision shows that the measures taken are welcomed by its partners and that the efforts made and the actions undertaken are perfectly in line with good tax governance, in accordance with international standards.