Proposal for a Council Decision on the date of application of Council Directive 2003/48/EC of 3 June 2003 on taxation of savings income in the form of interest payments
Date: 2004-06-25
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: interest, savings, tax on income, tax system

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 25.06.2004 
COM(2004) 455 final 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL DECISION 

on the date of application of Council Directive 2003/48/EC of 3 June 2003 on taxation of 
savings income in the form of interest payments 

(presented by the Commission) 

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EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

In accordance with Article 17 (2) of Directive 2003/48/EC1, Member States were to 
apply  the  provisions  of  this  Directive  from  1  January  2005  provided  that  the 
conditions set out in that paragraph had been fulfilled. In accordance with Article 17 
(3),  the  Council  had  to  decide,  by  unanimity,  at  least  six  months  before  1  January 
2005, whether this condition would be met, having regard to the dates of entry into 
force  of  the  relevant  measures  in  the  third  countries  and  dependent  or  associated 
territories concerned. 

In  June  2004  the  Council  decided  that  the  condition  for  the  application  of  the 
provisions of the Directive from 1 January 2005 set out in Article 17 (2) will not be 
met. Article 17 (3) provides that, if the Council does not decide that the conditions 
will be met, it shall, acting unanimously on a proposal by the Commission, adopt a 
new date for the purposes of paragraph 2.  

Based  on  the  outcome  of  its  negotiations  with  the  third  countries  referred  to  in 
Article  17  (2),  and  on  the  assurances  given  by  all  relevant  dependent  or  associated 
territories, the Commission is of the view that all these countries and territories will 
be in a position to apply measures equivalent to, or the same as, those provided for 
by the Directive from 1 July 2005. It is therefore proposed to adopt this date as the 
new date for the purposes of Article 17 (2). This new date of application will also be 
subject to the conditions set out in Article 17 (2) (i) and (ii). 

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OJ L 157, 26.6.2003, p.38. 

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Proposal for a 

COUNCIL DECISION 

on the date of application of Council Directive 2003/48/EC of 3 June 2003 on taxation of 
savings income in the form of interest payments 

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

Having regard to Directive 2003/48/EC2, and in particular Article 17 (3) thereof, 

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission3, 

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

(4) 

(5) 

Article  17  (2)  of  Directive  2003/48/EC  sets  out  the  conditions  for  application  of  the 
provisions of the Directive from 1 January 2005. 

The Council did not decide before 1 July 2004 that the conditions set out in Article 17 
(2) of Directive 2003/48/EC will be met, having regard to the dates of entry into force 
of the relevant measures in the third countries and dependent or associated territories 
concerned. 

Article  17  (3)  of  Directive  2003/48/EC  provides  that,  if  the  Council  does  not  decide 
that  the  condition  set  out  in  paragraph  2  of  that  article  will  be  met,  it  shall,  acting 
unanimously on a proposal by the Commission, adopt a new date for the purposes of 
paragraph 2. 

It  appears  that  each  of  the  third  countries  and  dependent  or  associated  territories 
referred  to  in  Article  17  (2)  of  Directive  2003/48/EC  will  be  able  to  meet  the 
conditions set out in that paragraph by 1 July 2005. 

The date of 1 July 2005 should therefore be adopted as the new date for the purposes 
of  Article  17  (2)  of  Directive  2003/48/EC,  which  date  shall  also  be  subject  to  the 
conditions set out in that paragraph.  

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:  

The  date  referred  to  in  Article  17  (2)  of  Directive  2003/48/EC  shall  be  replaced  by  1  July 
2005. 

Article 1 

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3 

OJ L 157, 26.6.2003, p.38. 
OJ C […] […], p. […] 

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Article 2 

This  Decision  is  addressed  to  the  Member  States  and  shall  be  published  in  the  Official 
Journal of the European Union. 

Done at Brussels,  

For the Council 
The President 

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