The OECD's Committee on Fiscal Affairs (CFA) invites public comments on the draft Commentary on the International VAT Neutrality Guidelines. This draft Commentary provides guidance on the practical implementation of the six International VAT Neutrality Guidelines approved by the CFA in July 2011. Public comments should be sent before 26 September 2012 to vat@oecd.org.

Public comments are invited on discussion drafts that include the proposals produced with respect to Action 2 (Hybrid Mismatch Arrangements) of the BEPS Action Plan.

OECD publishes comments received on Action 2 discussions drafts (Neutralise the Effects of Hybrid Mismatch Arrangements)

Following the recent meetings of regional policy networks on BEPS in South East Asia (Korea 12-13 February), francopohone countries (Gabon, 27 February) and Latin America and the Caribbean (Peru, 26-27 February) a regional network meeting in Eastern Europe and Central Asia was held in Ankara, Turkey on 5-6 March.

The OECD Secretary-General Gurría welcomed the announcement and congratulated the Commission for the work done. "The European Commission’s initiative is another major step to tackle corporate tax avoidance.

The European Commission presented today an Action Plan to fundamentally reform corporate taxation in the EU. The Action Plan sets out a series of initiatives to tackle tax avoidance, secure sustainable revenues and strengthen the Single Market for businesses.

On 21-23 October 2015, the Eastern Europe and Central Asia Regional Meeting and Governmental Workshop on BEPS discussed the outcomes of the BEPS project, and how countries can engage in the implementation and monitoring of the measures adopted on an equal footing.

This stocktaking report profiles the tax treatment of funded private pension plans across all OECD and EU countries. The information refers to 2015 or the latest year with available data and covers all types of funded private pension plans in each country.

On 1 December 2015 the OECD agreed on a common way forward in response to a request submitted by the European Commission pursuant to a mandate from EU Member States to include additional fields in the CRS XML Schema. This request was made further to the work of the European Commission and the EU Member States on the implementation of the Standard for Automatic Exchange of Financial Information in Tax Matters within the European Union.

The European Commission presented today a series of measures for a coordinated EU-wide response to corporate tax avoidance, notably through implementation of the global standards developed under the OECD/G20 Base Erosion and Profit Shifting Project. The Commission proposal would align tax laws in all 28 EU countries, in order to fight aggressive tax practices by multinational enterprises

More than 60 delegates from 14 countries gathered in Vilnius for the first regional meeting of the Inclusive Framework on BEPS in the region. This meeting was the last of a series of regional events in 2016 intended to offer countries in different regions of the world the opportunity to feed their views and provide their input into the Inclusive Framework on BEPS.

Today, the OECD released a report on Neutralising the Effects of Branch Mismatch Arrangements (BEPS Action 2). This new report sets out recommendations for changes to domestic law that would bring the treatment of these branch mismatch structures into line with outcomes described in the 2015 Report.

During a meeting on International Tax Reform, the Ministry of Finance and the OECD launched a programme on "Enhancing Domestic Resource Mobilisation in Egypt through a better tax and exchange of information system". The project, financed by the EU, provides EUR 1.2 million in funding over two and a half years, and will assist Egypt in the implementation of the new international standards to tackle tax avoidance and tax evasion.

Over 60 delegates from 16 countries, international and regional organisations, business, civil society and academia gathered in Yerevan, Armenia on 7 - 9 November 2018 for a regional meeting of the Inclusive Framework on BEPS in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

Over 70 delegates from 14 countries, as well as international and regional organisations, business, and civil society gathered in Baku, Azerbaijan on 8-10 October 2019 for the Fifth Regional Meeting on BEPS for Eurasian Countries.

Imports of (bop) - Refined Petroleum Energy Produ in Canada increased to 958.80 CAD Million in March from 910.80 CAD Million in February of 2020. Imports of (bop) - Refined Petroleum Energy Produ in Canada averaged 429.30 CAD Million from 1988 until 2020, reaching an all time high of 1651.50 CAD Million in May of 2018 and a record low of 32.80 CAD Million in February of 1992. This page includes a chart with historical data for Canada Imports of (bop) - Refined Petroleum Energy Produ.

Imports (Bop) - Pharmaceutical And Medicinal Products in Canada increased to 1826.70 CAD Million in March from 1786.80 CAD Million in February of 2020. Imports (Bop) - Pharmaceutical And Medicinal Produ in Canada averaged 772.14 CAD Million from 1988 until 2020, reaching an all time high of 2084 CAD Million in December of 2019 and a record low of 80.90 CAD Million in April of 1989. This page includes a chart with historical data for Canada Imports of (bop) - Pharmaceutical And Medicinal P.

The OECD and the European Commission’s Structural Reform Support Service (SRSS) sealed a new agreement today in Paris that will see the OECD provide wide-ranging policy support to advance structural reforms in European countries.

Small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) requesting loans between 2007 and 2010 faced higher interest rates than for large companies. Loan conditions for SMEs included shortened maturities and increased demands for collateral, suggesting that banks considered smaller firms to be a higher risk.

Governments in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) should create urgently needed jobs for the 2.5 million people entering the labour market each year and improve their policies to encourage women’s entrepreneurship in order to reduce structural unemployment, says a new OECD report.

The book assesses the current policy context for young enterprises in the MENA region and outlines policy tools and instruments, both indirect and direct, that governments can implement to support new enterprise development.

The European Commission has proposed an integrated EU approach to stop profits from trading minerals being used to fund armed conflicts. The package of measures aims to make it more difficult for armed groups in conflict-affected and high-risk areas to finance their activities through the mining of and trade in minerals.

8-10 October 2014, Paris, France: Discussions at this meeting will focus on implementing the Istanbul Anti-Corruption Action Plan; monitoring reports for Armenia and Kazakhstan; and, progress reports from Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.

Global FDI flows collapsed with the global financial crisis in 2008 and remain 40% below pre-crisis levels. A major reason for this is the EU. While FDI flows in the rest of the world recovered by 2010, the EU continues to struggle due to structural factors that are undermining the quality of the EU’s investment environment. The paper analyses why and puts forward policy options. It is part of the Investment Insights series.

The global economy continues to run at low speed and many countries, particularly in Europe, seem unable to overcome the legacies of the crisis. With high unemployment, high inequality and low trust still weighing heavily, it is imperative to swiftly implement reforms that boost demand and employment and raise potential growth.

This meeting will focus on the third round monitoring reports under the Istanbul Anti-Corruption Action Plan for Kyrgyzstan and Ukraine. The meeting will also include progress reports from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

This cross-country report on prevention of public sector corruption analyses the preventive measures that have proven to be effective and successful in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The review focuses on twenty-one countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia and includes examples from OECD countries.

This cross-country report analyses the legislation on liability of legal persons for corruption and its enforcement in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, highlighting national practices that may be promoted as good practice. While it focuses on 25 countries participating in the Anti-Corruption Network for Eastern Europe and Central Asia (ACN), examples from OECD countries are also included.

Paris, 19-20 November 2015: Bringing together senior executives representing the world’s largest institutional investors, senior policy makers and regulators, debates focused on issues affecting long-term investment, including: asset allocation concepts; regulation; governance; energy and natural resources; and, brownfield and greenfield infrastructure.

21 April 2016, Paris: The OECD will host a High-Level Meeting on boosting the impact of anti-corruption reforms in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

This study explores what governments, business associations, NGOs, and companies do in order to strengthen business integrity with a particular focus on anti-corruption measures in and for the private sector in countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, as well as in selected other countries.

Countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia have introduced important anti-corruption reforms in recent years. However, corruption in the region remains high. This report identifies progress achieved as well as challenges which require further action by countries.

This meeting of the Anti-Corruption Network for Eastern Europe and Central Asia (ACN) will take place at the OECD on 12-14 September 2017.

Housing Index In the Euro Area increased to 120.37 points in the fourth quarter of 2019 from 119.54 points in the third quarter of 2019. Housing Index in the Euro Area averaged 102.77 points from 2005 until 2019, reaching an all time high of 120.37 points in the fourth quarter of 2019 and a record low of 89.60 points in the first quarter of 2005. in the Euro Area, the House Price Index measures residential property market prices. The HPI captures price changes of all kinds of residential property purchased by households (flats, detached houses, terraced houses, etc.), both new and existing. Only market prices are considered, self-build dwellings are therefore excluded. The land component of the residential property is included. This page provides the latest reported value for - Euro Area House Price Index - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.

Health spending fell across the European Union in 2010, as cash-strapped governments curbed outlays to help cut budgetary deficits, according to Health at a Glance: Europe 2012, a new joint report by the OECD and the European Commission.

The number of people over 80 will double by 2050 rising from 3.9% of the population to 9.1% in 2050 across OECD countries and from 4.7% to 11.3% across 27 EU members. Estimates are that up to half of them will need help to cope with their daily needs. Yet even today governments are struggling to deliver high-quality care to elderly people with reduced physical and mental abilities, says a new OECD/EC report, A good life in old age? .

Health spending has started to rise again after stagnating or even falling in many OECD countries during the crisis. But the pace of growth remains well below pre-crisis rates, especially in Europe, according to OECD Health Statistics 2014.

Today, Europeans enjoy a much longer life expectancy than the previous generation, but large inequalities in health remain across and within countries. These are largely due to disparities in access to and quality of care, as well as individual lifestyles and behaviours, according to a new joint OECD/European Commission report.

Dementia is increasing in prevalence, and to date has no cure or treatment. One element in improving this situation is using and sharing data more widely to increase the power of research. Further, moving beyond established medical data into big data offers the potential to tap into routinely collected data from both within and outside the health system.

Many European countries saw further reductions in health spending in 2013, according to OECD Health Statistics 2015. Health spending continued to shrink in Greece, Italy and Portugal in 2013. Most countries in the European Union reported real per capita health spending below the levels of 2009. Outside of Europe, health spending has been growing at around 2.5% per year since 2010.

This paper looks at recent trends in pharmaceutical spending across OECD countries. It examines the drivers of recent spending trends, highlighting differences across therapeutic classes, and then looks at emerging challenges for policy makers in the management of pharmaceutical spending.

Better public health and prevention policies as well as more effective health care could save hundreds of thousands of lives and billions of euros each year in Europe, according to a new joint OECD/European Commission report.

This report identifies, and seeks to address, key challenges for the responsible development of neurotechnology. In particular, it analyses frameworks and mechanisms for integrating social concerns in the early development of technology, and discusses best practices for research funders across the public and private sector.

The transportation sub-index of the CPI basket In the Euro Area decreased to 104.69 points in March of 2020 from 106.33 points in February of 2020. CPI Transportation in the Euro Area averaged 87.62 points from 1996 until 2020, reaching an all time high of 107.87 points in August of 2019 and a record low of 66 points in January of 1996. This page provides - Euro Area Cpi Transportation- actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

Global economic activity is picking up, but the continuing crisis in the euro area is delaying a meaningful recovery, the OECD said in its latest Interim Economic Assessment.

The global economy continues to run at low speed and many countries, particularly in Europe, seem unable to overcome the legacies of the crisis. With high unemployment, high inequality and low trust still weighing heavily, it is imperative to swiftly implement reforms that boost demand and employment and raise potential growth.

Japan’s agriculture sector has traditionally been characterised by small-scale rice production, but has recently begun to respond to new market opportunities for higher value food products across a rapidly growing East Asia. Today, rice represents less than 20% of the value of agriculture production, and larger, more productive, and more profitable farm businesses now account for more than half of total agriculture output.

Exports to Europe in South Africa increased to 35805.52 ZAR Million in March from 29412.69 ZAR Million in February of 2020. Exports to Europe in South Africa averaged 23811.82 ZAR Million from 2014 until 2020, reaching an all time high of 35805.52 ZAR Million in March of 2020 and a record low of 16239.03 ZAR Million in January of 2016. This page includes a chart with historical data for South Africa Exports to EUrope.

Imports from Europe in South Africa increased to 33142.52 ZAR Million in March from 28764.92 ZAR Million in February of 2020. Imports from Europe in South Africa averaged 30213.14 ZAR Million from 2014 until 2020, reaching an all time high of 39535.68 ZAR Million in August of 2019 and a record low of 23418.90 ZAR Million in May of 2014. This page includes a chart with historical data for South Africa Imports from Europe.

The number of employed persons In the Euro Area increased to 160.58 Million in the fourth quarter of 2019 from 160.15 Million in the third quarter of 2019. Employed Persons in the Euro Area averaged 137.69 Million from 1980 until 2019, reaching an all time high of 160.58 Million in the fourth quarter of 2019 and a record low of 117.36 Million in the second quarter of 1984. in the Euro Area, employed persons are individuals with a minimum required age who work during a certain time for a business. This page provides the latest reported value for - Euro Area Employed Persons - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.