The “EU blacklist” refers to a list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purpose. Jurisdictions are added to the “tax haven blacklist” if they are deemed to have shortfalls in their tax rules that could favor tax evasion. They are removed from the blacklist if they commit to reforms.
Consequently, EU countries can choose to apply certain defensive measures against the countries on the EU blacklist.
One of the principal reasons stated for the UAE’s inclusion on the tax haven list was for “not making sufficient progress in implementing economic substance regulations by the agreed deadline of “31 December 2018”.