CELEX: 22004A1224(01)
Language: en
Date: 2004-12-07 00:00:00
Title: Agreement between the European Community and the Principality of Liechtenstein providing for measures equivalent to those laid down in Council Directive 2003/48/EC on taxation of savings income in the form of interest payments - Memorandum of Understanding

L 379/84                  EN                            Official Journal of the European Union                                         24.12.2004
                                                                     AGREEMENT
                between the European Community and the Principality of Liechtenstein providing for measures
                equivalent to those laid down in Council Directive 2003/48/EC on taxation of savings income in the
                                                             form of interest payments
                THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY, hereinafter referred to as ‘the Community’,
                and
                THE PRINCIPALITY OF LIECHTENSTEIN, hereinafter referred to as ‘Liechtenstein’,
                both hereinafter referred to as ‘Contracting Party’ or ‘Contracting Parties’,
                Reaffirming the common interest in further developing the privileged relationship between the Community and Liech-
                tenstein,
                HAVE AGREED AS FOLLOWS:
                                Article 1                                         (b) the name and address of the paying agent;
            Retention by Liechtenstein Paying Agents
                                                                                  (c) the account number of the beneficial owner or, where there
1.      Interest payments which are made to beneficial owners                          is none, identification of the debt-claim giving rise to the
within the meaning of Article 4 who are residents of a                                 interest, and
Member State of the European Union, hereinafter referred to
as ‘Member State’, by a paying agent established on the territory
of Liechtenstein, shall, subject to Article 2, be subject to a
                                                                                  (d) the amount of the interest payment calculated in accordance
retention from the amount of the interest payment. The rate
                                                                                       with Article 3.
of retention shall be 15 % during the first three years from the
date of application of this Agreement, 20 % for the subsequent
three years and 35 % thereafter.
                                                                                  3.     The competent authority of Liechtenstein shall commu-
                                                                                  nicate the information referred to in paragraph 2 to the
2.      Liechtenstein shall take the necessary measures to ensure                 competent authority of the Member State of residence of the
that the tasks required for the implementation of this                            beneficial owner. Such communications shall be automatic and
Agreement are carried out by paying agents established within                     shall take place at least once a year, within 6 months following
the territory of Liechtenstein and specifically provide for                       the end of the tax year in Liechtenstein, for all interest
provisions on procedures and penalties.                                           payments made during that year.
                                Article 2                                         4.     Where the beneficial owner opts for this voluntary
                                                                                  disclosure procedure or otherwise declares his interest income
                          Voluntary disclosure                                    obtained from a Liechtenstein paying agent to the tax autho-
                                                                                  rities in his Member State of residence, the interest income
1.      Liechtenstein shall provide for a procedure which allows                  concerned shall be subject to taxation in that Member State
the beneficial owner as defined in Article 4 to avoid the                         at the same rates as those applied to similar income arising
retention specified in Article 1 by expressly authorising his                     in that State.
paying agent in Liechtenstein to report the interest payments
to the competent authority of that State. Such authorisation
shall cover all interest payments made to the beneficial owner                                                  Article 3
by that paying agent.
                                                                                                  Basis of assessment for retention
2.      The minimum amount of information to be reported by                       1.     The paying agent shall withhold the retention in
the paying agent in case of express authorisation by the bene-                    accordance with Article 1(1) as follows:
ficial owner shall consist of:
                                                                                  (a) in the case of an interest payment within the meaning of
(a) the identity and residence of the beneficial owner estab-                          Article 7(1)(a): on the gross amount of interest paid or
     lished in accordance with Article 5;                                              credited;
 ---pagebreak--- 24.12.2004            EN                          Official Journal of the European Union                                           L 379/85
(b) in the case of an interest payment within the meaning of                                           Article 5
    Article 7(1)(b) or (d): on the amount of interest or revenue
    referred to in those subparagraphs;                                            Identity and residence of beneficial owners
                                                                          In order to establish the identity and residence of the beneficial
                                                                          owner as defined in Article 4, the paying agent shall keep a
(c) in the case of an interest payment within the meaning of              record of the name, first name, address and residence details in
    Article 7(1)(c): on the amount of interest referred to in that        accordance with the Liechtenstein legal provisions against
    subparagraph.                                                         money laundering. For contractual relations entered into, or
                                                                          transactions carried out in the absence of contractual
                                                                          relations, on or after 1 January 2004, for individuals presenting
                                                                          a passport or official identity card issued by a Member State
2.    For the purposes of paragraph 1, the retention shall be             who declare themselves to be resident in a State other than a
deducted on a pro rata basis for the period during which the              Member State or Liechtenstein, residence shall be established by
beneficial owner holds a debt-claim. If the paying agent is               means of a tax residence certificate issued by the competent
unable to determine the period on the basis of the information            authority of the State in which the individual claims to be
made available to him, the paying agent shall consider the                resident. Failing the presentation of such a certificate, the
beneficial owner to have been in possession of the debt-claim             Member State which issued the passport or other official
for the entire period of its existence, unless the latter provides        identity document shall be considered the State of residence.
evidence of the date of acquisition.
                                                                                                       Article 6
3.    Taxes and retentions other than the retention provided for
in this Agreement on the same payment of interest shall be                                   Definition of paying agent
credited against the amount of the retention calculated in
accordance with this Article. This shall, in particular, include          For the purposes of this Agreement, ‘paying agent’ in Liech-
the Liechtenstein Couponsteuer at a rate of 4 %.                          tenstein shall mean banks under Liechtenstein banking law,
                                                                          securities dealers, natural and legal persons resident or estab-
                                                                          lished in Liechtenstein including economic operators regulated
                                                                          by the Liechtenstein Persons- and Companies Act (Personen-
                             Article 4                                    und Gesellschaftsrecht), partnerships and permanent estab-
                                                                          lishments of foreign companies, which even occasionally
                Definition of beneficial owner                            accept, hold, invest or transfer assets of third parties or
                                                                          merely pay interest or secure the payment of interest in the
1.    For the purposes of this Agreement ‘beneficial owner’ shall         course of their business.
mean any individual who receives an interest payment or any
individual for whom an interest payment is secured, unless such
individual can provide evidence that the interest payment was
not received or secured for his or her own benefit. An indi-
vidual is not deemed to be the beneficial owner when he or she:                                        Article 7
                                                                                          Definition of Interest Payment
(a) acts as a paying agent within the meaning of Article 6 or             1.     For the purposes of this Agreement ‘interest payment’
                                                                          shall mean:
(b) acts on behalf of a legal person, an investment fund or a
    comparable or equivalent body for common investments in               (a) interest paid, or credited to an account, relating to debt-
    securities or                                                             claims of every kind including interest paid on fiduciary
                                                                              deposits by Liechtenstein paying agents for the benefit of
                                                                              beneficial owners as defined in Article 4, whether or not
                                                                              secured by mortgage and whether or not carrying a right to
(c) acts on behalf of another individual who is the beneficial                participate in the debtor's profits, and in particular, income
    owner and who discloses to the paying agent his or her                    from government securities and income from bonds or
    identity and State of residence.                                          debentures, including premiums and prizes attaching to
                                                                              such securities, bonds or debentures, but excluding interest
                                                                              from loans between private individuals not acting in the
                                                                              course of their business. Penalty charges for late payment
2.    Where a paying agent has information suggesting that the                shall not be regarded as interest payments;
individual who receives an interest payment or for whom an
interest payment is secured may not be the beneficial owner,
that agent shall take reasonable steps to establish the identity of
the beneficial owner. If the paying agent is unable to identify
the beneficial owner, that agent shall treat the individual in            (b) interest accrued or capitalised at the sale, refund or
question as the beneficial owner.                                             redemption of the debt-claims referred to in (a);
 ---pagebreak--- L 379/86                 EN                           Official Journal of the European Union                                          24.12.2004
(c) income deriving from interest payments either directly or                 5.    The percentage referred to in subparagraph 1(d) and
     through an entity referred to in Article 4(2) of Council                 paragraph 3 shall, as from 1 January 2011, be 25 %.
     Directive 2003/48/EC of 3 June 2003 on taxation of
     savings income in the form of interest payments, hereinafter
     referred to as the ‘Directive’, distributed by
                                                                              6.    The percentages referred to in subparagraph 1(d) and
         (i) undertakings for collective investment domiciled in a            paragraph 4 shall be determined by reference to the investment
             Member State or in Liechtenstein,                                policy as laid down in the fund rules or instruments of incor-
                                                                              poration of the undertakings or entities concerned and, failing
                                                                              such rules, by reference to the actual composition of the assets
                                                                              of the undertakings or entities concerned.
        (ii) entities domiciled in a Member State, which exercise
             the option under Article 4(3) of the Directive and
             which inform the paying agent of this fact,
                                                                                                            Article 8
       (iii) undertakings for collective investment established                                        Revenue sharing
             outside the territory of the Contracting Parties,
                                                                              1.    Liechtenstein shall keep 25 % of the revenue generated by
                                                                              the retention under this Agreement and transfer 75 % of the
                                                                              revenue to the Member State of residence of the beneficial
(d) income realised upon the sale, refund or redemption of
                                                                              owner.
     shares or units in the following undertakings and entities,
     if they invest directly or indirectly via other undertakings for
     collective investment or entities referred to below more than
     40 % of their assets in debt-claims as referred to in (a):
                                                                              2.    Such transfers shall take place for each year in one
                                                                              instalment per Member State at the latest within a period of
       (i) undertakings for collective investment domiciled in a              6 months following the end of the tax year in Liechtenstein.
            Member State or in Liechtenstein,
      (ii) entities domiciled in a Member State, which exercise the
            option under Article 4(3) of the Directive and which                                            Article 9
            inform the paying agent of this fact,
                                                                                               Elimination of double taxation
                                                                              1.    If interest received by a beneficial owner has been subject
     (iii) undertakings for collective investment established                 to retention by a paying agent in Liechtenstein, the Member
            outside the territory of the Contracting Parties.                 State of residence for tax purposes of the beneficial owner
                                                                              shall grant him a tax credit equal to the amount of the
                                                                              retention. Where this amount exceeds the amount of tax due
                                                                              on the total amount of interest subject to retention in
2.      As regards subparagraph 1(c), when a paying agent has no              accordance with its national law, the Member State of
information concerning the proportion of the income which                     residence for tax purposes shall repay the excess amount of
derives from interest payments, the total amount of the                       tax withheld to the beneficial owner.
income shall be considered an interest payment.
3.      As regards subparagraph 1(d), when a paying agent has no
information concerning the percentage of the assets invested in               2.    If interest received by a beneficial owner has been subject
debt-claims or in shares or units as defined in that subpar-                  to taxes and retentions other than as provided for in this
agraph, that percentage shall be considered to be above 40 %.                 Agreement and the Member State of residence for tax
Where that agent cannot determine the amount of income                        purposes grants a tax credit for such taxes and retentions in
realised by the beneficial owner, the income shall be deemed                  accordance with its national law or double taxation
to correspond to the proceeds of the sale, refund or redemption               conventions, such other taxes and retentions shall be credited
of the shares or units.                                                       before the procedure in paragraph 1 is applied. The Member
                                                                              State of residence for tax purposes shall accept certificates issued
                                                                              by Liechtenstein paying agents as proper evidence of the tax or
                                                                              retention on the understanding that the competent authority of
4.      Income relating to undertakings or entities which have                the Member State of residence for tax purposes will be able to
invested up to 15 % of their assets in debt-claims within the                 obtain from the Liechtenstein competent authority verification
meaning of subparagraph 1(a) shall not be considered an                       of the information contained in the certificates issued by Liech-
interest payment in accordance with subparagraph 1(c) and (d).                tenstein paying agents.
 ---pagebreak--- 24.12.2004             EN                         Official Journal of the European Union                                           L 379/87
3.     The Member State of residence for tax purposes of the              4.     If requested by a Member State, Liechtenstein shall enter
beneficial owner may replace the tax credit mechanism referred            into bilateral negotiations with that State in order to define
to in paragraphs 1 and 2 by a refund of the retention referred            individual categories of cases falling under ‘the like’ in
to in Article 1.                                                          accordance with the procedure of taxation applied by that State.
                             Article 10                                                                 Article 11
                    Exchange of information                                                    Competent Authorities
1.     The competent authorities of Liechtenstein and any                 For the purposes of this Agreement the competent authorities
Member State shall exchange information on conduct consti-                shall mean those authorities listed in Annex I.
tuting tax fraud under the laws of the requested State, or the
like for income covered by this Agreement. ‘The like’ includes
only offences with the same level of wrongfulness as is the case
for tax fraud under the laws of the requested State. In response                                        Article 12
to a duly justified request, the requested State shall provide in                                    Consultation
accordance with its procedural laws information with respect to
matters that the requesting State is investigating, or may inves-         If any disagreement arises between the competent authority of
tigate, on a civil or criminal basis. Any information received by         Liechtenstein and one or more of the other competent autho-
Liechtenstein or a Member State shall be treated as secret in the         rities referred to in Article 11 as to the interpretation or appli-
same manner as information obtained under the domestic laws               cation of this Agreement, they shall endeavour to resolve this
of that State and shall be disclosed only to persons or autho-            by mutual agreement. They shall immediately notify the
rities (including courts and administrative bodies) concerned             Commission of the European Communities and the
with assessment or collection of, the enforcement or prose-               competent authorities of the other Member States of the
cution in respect of, or the determination of appeals in                  results of their consultations. In relation to issues of interpre-
relation to taxes on income covered by the Agreement. Such                tation the Commission may take part in consultations at the
persons or authorities shall use the information only for such            request of any of the competent authorities.
purposes. They may disclose the information in public court
proceedings or in judicial decisions.
                                                                                                        Article 13
2.     In determining whether information may be provided in                                            Review
response to a request, the requested State shall apply the statute
                                                                          1.     The Contracting Parties shall consult each other at least
of limitations applicable under the laws of the requesting State
                                                                          every three years or at the request of either Contracting Party
instead of the statute of limitations of the requested State.
                                                                          with a view to examining and – if deemed necessary by the
                                                                          Contracting Parties – improving the technical functioning of this
                                                                          Agreement and assessing international developments. The
                                                                          consultations shall be held within one month of the request
3.     The requested State shall provide information where the            or as soon as possible in urgent cases.
requesting State has a reasonable suspicion that the conduct
would constitute tax fraud or the like. The requesting State’s
suspicion of tax fraud or the like may be based on:
                                                                          2.     On the basis of such an assessment, the Contracting
                                                                          Parties may consult each other in order to examine whether
                                                                          changes to this Agreement are necessary taking into account
(a) Documents, whether authenticated or not, and including but            international developments.
     not limited to business records, books of account, or bank
     account information;
                                                                          3.     As soon as sufficient experience of the full implemen-
                                                                          tation of Article 1(1) is available, the Contracting Parties shall
(b) Testimonial information from the taxpayer;                            consult each other in order to examine whether changes to this
                                                                          Agreement are necessary taking into account international
                                                                          developments.
(c) Information obtained from an informant or other third
     person that has been independently corroborated or                   4.     For the purposes of the consultations referred to in para-
     otherwise is likely to be credible; or                               graphs 1, 2 and 3 each Contracting Party shall inform the other
                                                                          Contracting Party of possible developments which could affect
                                                                          the proper functioning of this Agreement. This shall also
                                                                          include any relevant agreement between one of the Contracting
(d) Circumstantial evidence.                                              Parties and a third State.
 ---pagebreak--- L 379/88                 EN                              Official Journal of the European Union                                       24.12.2004
                                 Article 14                                      — where that paying agent pays interest directly to, or secures
                                                                                     the payment of interest for the immediate benefit of, a
   Relationship to bilateral Double Taxation Conventions                             beneficial owner resident in a Member State.
The provisions of the double taxation conventions between
Liechtenstein and the Member States shall not prevent the
levying of the retention for which this Agreement provides.
                                                                                 If a further issue is made on or after 1 March 2002 of an
                                                                                 aforementioned negotiable debt security issued by a
                                                                                 Government or a related entity acting as a public authority or
                                                                                 whose role is recognised by an international Agreement (listed
                                 Article 15
                                                                                 in Annex II to this Agreement), the entire issue of such a
   Transitional provisions for negotiable debt securities (1)                    security, consisting of the original issue and any further issue
                                                                                 shall be considered a debt-claim within the meaning of Article
1.      From the date of application of this Agreement for as long               7(1)(a).
as at least one Member State also applies similar provisions, and
until 31 December 2010 at the latest, domestic and interna-
tional bonds and other negotiable debt securities which were
first issued before 1 March 2001 or for which the original
                                                                                 If a further issue is made on or after 1 March 2002 of an
issuing prospectuses were approved before that date by the
                                                                                 aforementioned negotiable debt security issued by any other
competent authorities of the issuing State shall not be
                                                                                 issuer not covered by the fourth subparagraph, such further
considered as debt-claims within the meaning of Article
                                                                                 issue shall be considered a debt-claim within the meaning of
7(1)(a), provided that no further issues of such negotiable
                                                                                 Article 7(1)(a).
debt securities are made on or after 1 March 2002.
However, for as long as at least one Member State also applies                   2.    This Article shall not prevent Liechtenstein and the
similar provisions, the provisions of this Article shall continue                Member States from continuing to levy a tax on revenues
to apply beyond 31 December 2010 in respect of such nego-                        deriving from the aforementioned negotiable debt-claims
tiable debt securities:                                                          referred to in paragraph 1 in accordance with their national law.
— which contain gross-up and early redemption clauses, and                                                   Article 16
                                                                                      Signing, Entry into force and Duration of Validity
                                                                                 1.    This Agreement requires ratification or approval by the
— where the paying agent, as defined in Article 6, is estab-                     Contracting Parties in accordance with their own procedures.
     lished in Liechtenstein, and                                                The Contracting Parties shall notify each other of the
                                                                                 completion of these procedures. The Agreement shall enter
                                                                                 into force on the first day of the second month following the
                                                                                 last notification.
— where that paying agent pays interest directly to, or secures
     the payment of interest for the immediate benefit of, a
     beneficial owner resident in a Member State.
                                                                                 2.    Subject to the fulfilment of the constitutional
                                                                                 requirements of Liechtenstein and the requirements of
                                                                                 Community law concerning entering into international
If and when all Member States cease to apply similar provisions,                 agreements and without prejudice to Article 17, Liechtenstein
the provisions of this Article shall continue to apply only in                   and where applicable the Community shall effectively
respect of those negotiable securities:                                          implement and apply this Agreement by 1 July 2005 and
                                                                                 notify each other thereof.
— which contain gross-up and early redemption clauses, and
                                                                                 3.    This Agreement shall remain in force until terminated by
                                                                                 a Contracting Party.
— where the issuer's paying agent is established in Liech-
     tenstein, and
                                                                                 4.    Either Contracting Party may terminate this Agreement by
(1) As in the Directive, these transitional provisions also apply to nego-       giving notice to the other. In such a case, the Agreement shall
    tiable debt securities held through investment funds.                        cease to have effect twelve months after the serving of notice.
 ---pagebreak--- 24.12.2004            EN                         Official Journal of the European Union                                           L 379/89
                            Article 17                                   2.    Liechtenstein shall, in such case, establish a final account
                                                                         by the end of the period of applicability of this Agreement and
          Application and Suspension of Application                      make a final payment to the Member States.
1.    The application of this Agreement shall be conditional on
the adoption and implementation by the dependent or asso-
ciated territories of the Member States mentioned in the                                              Article 19
report of the Council (Economic and Financial Affairs) to the                                   Territorial Scope
European Council of Santa Maria da Feira of 19 and 20 June
2000, as well as by the United States of America, Switzerland,           This Agreement shall apply, on the one hand, to the territories
Andorra, Monaco and San Marino, respectively, of measures                in which the Treaty establishing the European Community is
which conform with or are equivalent to those contained in               applied and under the conditions laid down in that Treaty and,
the Directive or in this Agreement and providing for the                 on the other hand, to the territory of Liechtenstein.
same dates of implementation.
2.    The Contracting Parties shall decide, by common accord,                                         Article 20
at least six months before the date referred to in Article 16(2),
whether the condition set out in paragraph 1 will be met                                              Annexes
having regard to the dates of entry into force of the relevant
measures in the third States and dependent or associated terri-          1.    The Annexes shall form an integral part of this
tories concerned. If the Contracting Parties do not decide that          Agreement.
the condition will be met, they shall, by common accord, adopt
a new date for the purposes of Article 16(2).
                                                                         2.    The list of competent authorities in Annex I may be
3.    The application of this Agreement or parts thereof may be          amended simply by notification of the other Contracting Party
suspended by either Contracting Party with immediate effect              by Liechtenstein for the authority referred to in (a) therein and
through notification to the other should the Directive or part           by the Community for the other authorities.
of the Directive cease to be applicable either temporarily or
permanently in accordance with Community law or in the
event that a Member State should suspend the application of              The list of related entities in Annex II may be amended by
its implementing legislation.                                            mutual agreement.
4.    Either Contracting Party may suspend the application of
this Agreement through notification to the other in the event                                         Article 21
that one of the third States or territories referred to in
paragraph 1 should subsequently cease to apply the measures                                          Languages
referred to in that paragraph. Suspension of application shall
take place no earlier than two months after notification. Appli-         1.    This Agreement shall be drawn up in duplicate in Czech,
cation of this Agreement shall resume as soon as the measures            Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German,
are reinstated.                                                          Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish,
                                                                         Portuguese, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish and Swedish, each of
                                                                         these texts being equally authentic.
                            Article 18
                  Claims and Final Settlement
                                                                         2.    The Maltese language version shall be authenticated by the
1.    Should this Agreement be terminated or its application be          Contracting Parties on the basis of an Exchange of Letters. It
suspended either in full or in part, the claims of individuals in        shall also be authentic, in the same way as for the languages
accordance with Article 9 shall remain unaffected.                       referred to in paragraph 1.
 ---pagebreak--- L 379/90          EN                               Official Journal of the European Union                               24.12.2004
         EN FE DE LO CUAL, los plenipotenciarios abajo firmantes suscriben el presente Acuerdo.
         NA DŮKAZ ČEHOŽ připojili níže podepsaní zplnomocnění zástupci k této smlouvě své podpisy.
         TIL BEKRÆFTELSE HERAF har undertegnede befuldmægtigede underskrevet denne aftale.
         ZU URKUND DESSEN haben die unterzeichneten Bevollmächtigten ihre Unterschriften unter dieses Abkommen gesetzt.
         SELLE KINNITUSEKS on täievolilised esindajad käesolevale lepingule alla kirjutanud.
         ΣΕ ΠΙΣΤΩΣΗ ΤΩΝ ΑΝΩΤΕΡΩ, οι υπογράφοντες πληρεξούσιοι έθεσαν την υπογραφή τους κάτω από την παρούσα συμφωνία.
         IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned plenipotentiaries have hereunto set their hands.
         EN FOI DE QUOI, les plénipotentiaires soussignés ont apposé leurs signatures au bas du présent accord.
         IN FEDE DI CHE, i plenipotenziari sottoscritti hanno apposto la propria firma in calce al presente accordo.
         TO APLIECINOT, attiecīgi pilnvarotas personas ir parakstījušas šo nolīgumu.
         TAI PALIUDYDAMI, šį Susitarimą pasirašė toliau nurodyti įgaliotieji atstovai.
         FENTIEK HITELÉÜL e megállapodást az alulírott meghatalmazottak alább kézjegyükkel látták el.
         B'XIEHDA TA' DAN, il-Plenipotenzjari hawn taħt iffirmati ffirmaw dan il-Ftehim.
         TEN BLIJKE WAARVAN de ondergetekende gevolmachtigden hun handtekening onder deze overeenkomst hebben
         geplaatst.
         W DOWÓD CZEGO, niżej podpisani pełnomocnicy złożyli swoje podpisy.
         EM FÉ DO QUE, os plenipotenciários abaixo assinados apuserem as suas assinaturas no final do presente Acordo.
         NA DÔKAZ ČOHO dolupodpísaní splnomocnení zástupcovia podpísali túto dohodu.
         V POTRDITEV TEGA so spodaj podpisani pooblaščenci podpisali ta sporazum.
         TÄMÄN VAKUUDEKSI allamainitut täysivaltaiset edustajat ovat allekirjoittaneet tämän sopimuksen.
         TILL BEVIS HÄRPÅ har undertecknade befullmäktigade undertecknat detta avtal.
         Hecho en Bruselas, el siete de diciembre del dos mil cuatro.
         V Bruselu dne sedmého prosince dva tisíce čtyři.
         Udfærdiget i Bruxelles, den syvende december to tusind og fire.
         Geschehen zu Brüssel am siebten Dezember zweitausendundvier.
         Kahe tuhande neljanda aasta detsembrikuu seitsmendal päeval Brüsselis.
         Eγινε στις Βρυξέλλες, στις εφτά Δεκεμβρίου δύο χιλιάδες τέσσερα.
         Done at Brussels on the seventh day of December in the year two thousand and four.
         Fait à Bruxelles, le sept décembre deux mille quatre.
         Fatto a Bruxelles, addì sette dicembre duemilaquattro.
         Briselē, divi tūkstoši ceturtā gada septītajā decembrī.
         Pasirašyta du tūkstančiai ketvirtųjų metų gruodžio septintą dieną Briuselyje.
         Kelt Brüsszelben, a kettőezer negyedik év december hetedik napján.
         Magħmul fi Brussel fis-seba' jum ta' Diċembru tas-sena elfejn u erbgħa.
         Gedaan te Brussel, de zevende december tweeduizendvier.
         Sporządzono w Brukseli dnia siódmego grudnia roku dwutysięcznego czwartego.
         Feito em Bruxelas, em sete de Dezembro de dois mil e quatro.
         V Bruseli siedmeho decembra dvetisícštyri.
         V Bruslju, dne sedmega decembra leta dva tisoč štiri.
         Tehty Brysselissä seitsemäntenä päivänä joulukuuta vuonna kaksituhattaneljä.
         Som skedde i Bryssel den sjunde december tjugohundrafyra.
 ---pagebreak--- 24.12.2004         EN                        Official Journal of the European Union L 379/91
           Por la Comunidad Europea
           Za Evropské společenství
           For Det Europæiske Fællesskab
           Für die Europäische Gemeinschaft
           Euroopa Ühenduse nimel
           Για την Ευρωπαϊκή Κοινότητα
           For the European Community
           Pour la Communauté européenne
           Per la Comunità europea
           Eiropas Kopienas vārdā
           Europos bendrijos vardu
           az Európai Közösség részéről
           Għall-Komunità Ewropea
           Voor de Europese Gemeenschap
           W imieniu Wspólnoty Europejskiej
           Pela Comunidade Europeia
           Za Európske spoločenstvo
           za Evropsko skupnost
           Euroopan yhteisön puolesta
           På Europeiska gemenskapens vägnar
           Für das Fürstentum Liechtenstein
 ---pagebreak--- L 379/92         EN                             Official Journal of the European Union                                               24.12.2004
                                                                  ANNEX I
                             LIST OF COMPETENT AUTHORITIES OF THE CONTRACTING PARTIES
         The ‘competent authorities’ for the purposes of this Agreement are:
         (a) in the Principality of Liechtenstein: Die Regierung des Fürstentums Liechtenstein or an authorised representative,
         (b) in the Kingdom of Belgium: De Minister van Financiën/Le Ministre des Finances or an authorised representative,
         (c) in the Czech Republic: Ministr financí or an authorised representative,
         (d) in the Kingdom of Denmark: Skatteministeren or an authorised representative,
         (e) in the Federal Republic of Germany: Der Bundesminister der Finanzen or an authorised representative,
         (f) in the Republic of Estonia: Rahandusminister or an authorised representative,
         (g) in the Hellenic Republic: Ο Υπουργός Οικονομίας και Οικονομικών or an authorised representative,
         (h) in the Kingdom of Spain: El Ministro de Economía y Hacienda or an authorised representative,
         (i) in the French Republic: Le Ministre chargé du budget or an authorised representative,
         (j) in Ireland: The Revenue Commissioners or their authorised representative,
         (k) in the Italian Republic: Il Capo del Dipartimento per le Politiche Fiscali or an authorised representative,
         (l) in the Republic of Cyprus: Υπουργός Οικονομικών or an authorised representative,
         (m) in the Republic of Latvia: Finanšu ministrs or an authorised representative,
         (n) in the Republic of Lithuania: Finansų ministras or an authorised representative,
         (o) in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg: Le Ministre des Finances or an authorised representative; however for the
             purposes of Article 10 the competent authority shall be ‘le Procureur Général d'Etat luxemburgeois’,
         (p) in the Republic of Hungary: A pénzügyminiszter or an authorised representative,
         (q) in the Republic of Malta: Il-Ministru responsabbli għall-Finanzi or an authorised representative,
         (r) in the Kingdom of the Netherlands: De Minister van Financiën or an authorised representative,
         (s) in the Republic of Austria: Der Bundesminister für Finanzen or an authorised representative,
         (t) in the Republic of Poland: Minister Finansów or an authorised representative,
         (u) in the Portuguese Republic: O Ministro das Finanças or an authorised representative,
         (v) in the Republic of Slovenia: Minister za finance or an authorised representative,
         (w) in the Slovak Republic: Minister financií or an authorised representative,
         (x) in the Republic of Finland: Valtiovarainministeriö/Finansministeriet or an authorised representative,
         (y) in the Kingdom of Sweden: Chefen för Finansdepartementet or an authorised representative,
         (z) in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and in the European territories for whose external
             relations the United Kingdom is responsible: the Commissioners of Inland Revenue or their authorised representative
             and the competent authority in Gibraltar, which the United Kingdom will designate in accordance with the Agreed
             Arrangements relating to Gibraltar authorities in the context of EU and EC instruments and related treaties notified to
             the Member States and institutions of the European Union of 19 April 2000, a copy of which shall be notified to
             Liechtenstein by the Secretary-General of the Council of the European Union, and which shall apply to this
             Agreement.
 ---pagebreak--- 24.12.2004          EN                              Official Journal of the European Union                                               L 379/93
                                                                     ANNEX II
                                                         LIST OF RELATED ENTITIES
           For the purposes of Article 15 of this Agreement, the following entities will be considered to be a ‘related entity acting as
           a public authority or whose role is recognised by an international treaty’:
           ENTITIES WITHIN THE EUROPEAN UNION:
           Belgium
               Vlaams Gewest (Flemish Region)
               Région wallonne (Walloon Region)
               Région bruxelloise/Brussels Gewest (Brussels Region)
               Communauté française (French Community)
               Vlaamse Gemeenschap (Flemish Community)
               Deutschsprachige Gemeinschaft (German-speaking Community)
           Spain
               Xunta de Galicia (Regional Executive of Galicia)
               Junta de Andalucía (Regional Executive of Andalusia)
               Junta de Extremadura (Regional Executive of Extremadura)
               Junta de Castilla-La Mancha (Regional Executive of Castilla- La Mancha)
               Junta de Castilla-León (Regional Executive of Castilla- León)
               Gobierno Foral de Navarra (Regional Government of Navarre)
               Govern de les Illes Balears (Government of the Balearic Islands)
               Generalitat de Catalunya (Autonomous Government of Catalonia)
               Generalitat de Valencia (Autonomous Government of Valencia)
               Diputación General de Aragón (Regional Council of Aragon)
               Gobierno de las Islas Canarias (Government of the Canary Islands)
               Gobierno de Murcia (Government of Murcia)
               Gobierno de Madrid (Government of Madrid)
               Gobierno de la Comunidad Autónoma del País Vasco/Euzkadi (Government of the Autonomous Community of the
               Basque Country)
               Diputación Foral de Guipúzcoa (Regional Council of Guipúzcoa)
               Diputación Foral de Vizcaya/Bizkaia (Regional Council of Vizcaya)
               Diputación Foral de Alava (Regional Council of Alava)
               Ayuntamiento de Madrid (City Council of Madrid)
               Ayuntamiento de Barcelona (City Council of Barcelona)
               Cabildo Insular de Gran Canaria (Island Council of Gran Canaria)
               Cabildo Insular de Tenerife (Island Council of Tenerife)
               Instituto de Crédito Oficial (Public Credit Institution)
               Instituto Catalán de Finanzas (Finance Institution of Catalonia)
               Instituto Valenciano de Finanzas (Finance Institution of Valencia)
           Greece
               Оργανισμός Тηλεπικοινωνιών Ελλάδος (National Telecommunications Organisation)
               Оργανισμός Σιδηροδρόμων Ελλάδος (National Railways Organisation)
               Δημόσια Επιχείρηση Ηλεκτρισμού (Public Electricity Company)
 ---pagebreak--- L 379/94          EN                             Official Journal of the European Union                                    24.12.2004
         France
             La Caisse d'amortissement de la dette sociale (CADES) (Social Debt Redemption Fund)
             L'Agence française de développement (AFD) (French Development Agency)
             Réseau Ferré de France (RFF) (French Rail Network)
             Caisse Nationale des Autoroutes (CNA) (National Motorways Fund)
             Assistance publique Hôpitaux de Paris (APHP) (Paris Hospitals Public Assistance)
             Charbonnages de France (CDF) (French Coal Board)
             Entreprise minière et chimique (EMC) (Mining and Chemicals Company)
         Italy
             Regions
             Provinces
             Municipalities
             Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (Deposits and Loans Fund)
         Latvia
             Pašvaldības (local governments)
         Poland
             gminy (communes)
             powiaty (districts)
             województwa (provinces)
             związki gmin (associations of communes)
             związki powiatów (associations of districts)
             związki województw (associations of provinces)
             miasto stołeczne Warszawa (capital city of Warsaw)
             Agencja Restrukturyzacji i Modernizacji Rolnictwa (Agency for Restructuring and Modernisation of Agriculture)
             Agencja Nieruchomości Rolnych (Agricultural Property Agency)
         Portugal
             Região Autónoma da Madeira (Autonomous Region of Madeira)
             Região Autónoma dos Açores (Autonomous Region of Azores)
             Municipalities
         Slovakia
             mestá a obce (municipalities)
             Železnice Slovenskej republiky (Slovak Railway Company)
             Štátny fond cestného hospodárstva (State Road Management Fund)
             Slovenské elektrárne (Slovak Power Plants)
             Vodohospodárska výstavba (Water Economy Building Company)
         INTERNATIONAL ENTITIES:
         European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
         European Investment Bank
         Asian Development Bank
         African Development Bank
         World Bank/IBRD/IMF
 ---pagebreak--- 24.12.2004          EN                            Official Journal of the European Union                                              L 379/95
           International Finance Corporation
           Inter-American Development Bank
           Council of Europe Social Development Fund
           EURATOM
           European Community
           Corporación Andina de Fomento (CAF) (Andean Development Corporation)
           Eurofima
           European Coal & Steel Community
           Nordic Investment Bank
           Caribbean Development Bank
           The provisions of Article 15 are without prejudice to any international obligations that the Contracting Parties may have
           entered into with respect to the above mentioned international entities.
           ENTITIES IN THIRD COUNTRIES:
           The entities that meet the following criteria:
           1. The entity is clearly considered to be a public entity according to the national criteria.
           2. Such public entity is a non-market producer which administers and finances a group of activities, principally providing
              non-market goods and services, intended for the benefit of the community and which are effectively controlled by
              general government.
           3. Such public entity is a large and regular issuer of debt.
           4. The State concerned is able to guarantee that such public entity will not exercise early redemption in the event of
              gross-up clauses.