Danes lead renewed European push against so-called 'tax havens' such as Ireland

Paolo Gentiloni, European tax commissioner. Photo: Federico Bernini/Bloomberg

Francesco Guarascio

A group of European Union countries is calling for the bloc to cast a wider net when listing tax havens and to consider imposing stricter sanctions for nations facilitating tax avoidance, according to an EU document and an EU official.

The document, prepared by the Danish government and seen by Reuters, urges a discussion on whether "current criteria provide sufficient protection against tax avoidance and evasion", and pushes for "strengthened" standards and sanctions. Germany and France were among its backers. It also calls for a discussion on how member states deal with the issue, asking: "Do we internally have sufficient safeguards against tax avoidance and evasion?"