[The link to the Moscovici letter can be found at American Expatriates FB site and on a tweet posted by Sophie in’t Veld. There is also a response to the Moscovici letter from Fabien Lehage.]

There are efforts targeting FATCA at the European Union (EU) level. The link above shows a May 2, 2019 response from Pierre Moscovici (EU Commissioner of Economic and Financial Affairs, Taxation and Customs) to a letter complaining about FATCA from Sophie in’t Veld, an EU Member of Parliament.

In her April 5, 2019 letter Sophie says: “…Why has the Commission decided not to take an initiative and take this responsibility after ongoing problems that the extraterritorial application of FATCA pose to EU citizens?… the association des Americains Accidental brought a legal action before the Conseil d’Etat to contest the intergovernmental agreement between France and the US…it becomes clear that in the Netherlands and France, in the European banking sector and the European Parliament, the problems that Accidental Americans are facing because of FATCA are being taken seriously. It is high time that also the [EU] Commission, especially in its role as guardian of the Treaties, starts taking these problems of EU citizens seriously, and stops hiding behind excuses that it has given in the last year… With European elections in sight…”

Here are some excerpts from the letter of EU Commissioner Moscovici, responding to Sophie in’t Veld:

— “You raise a number of points on the topic of “Accidental Americans” … Nationality ties, even when acquired by “accident”, come together with the existence of reciprocal and duties, and this is at the centre of the issues you raise vis a vis the United States…”

[No, don’t agree — for example, the plaintiffs in our Canadian FATCA lawsuit dispute this as U.S. citizenship was attempted by a foreign country (US) to be imposed on these Canadians without their consent and in the absence of any meaningful relationship with the foreign country. As such, there is no legitimate or rational argument justifying this unwanted and unaccepted “citizenship” or any “duty” associated with this bogus “citizenship”. Although born in the U.S. they are not “accidental” or any kind of “American”.]

— “As regard access to banking facilities by dual EU/US citizens, I understand from the response given at the PETI meeting that only one national authority has signalled having received, albeit very few, relevant complaints, and that the analysis of the national implementation of the Payment Accounts Directive did not find any evidence of discrimination against “accidental Americans…”

— “…no figures [on the number of accidental Americans] have been provided, making it difficult to establish how many citizens are in this position…”

— “On the topic of a possible mandate to negotiate an EU FATCA agreement with the US, I remain open to any support for this from the Council. However, I do not think it useful to formally request one as to date there is no sign that Member States would support such an action…In any event, given the global approach to tax transparency, and future (re)negotiated agreement would be likely to maintain the requirement for individuals who are taxable in the U.S., including joint EU/US citizens, to provide their US TIN when they open a bank account in the EU…”

— “With regard to the recent developments in France and Netherlands, I look forward to learning how these actions develop…”

— “In the case of FATCA, like you, I very much regret that the amount of information that flows from the US to the EU Member States under their bilateral agreements is less that flows from the US to the EU. But, this does not mean that the information should not be provided to the US…”

— “To conclude, I believe that there are two main issues which are often overlooked when discussing this subject. The first concerns sovereignty. All states have the sovereign right to determine who they tax individuals and, in the case of the US, the international community has accepted double Conventions that the US reserves the right to tax its citizens, rather than only its residents. The second concerns the recent worldwide movement towards tax transparency in an effort to ensure that tax avoidance and evasion can be reduced and that every taxable person pays their fair share of taxation…”

[The Government of Canada lawyers in our FATCA lawsuit in Federal Court made in court the very same points as Moscovici in the above paragraph. Will Justice MacTavish agree with Moscovici or with plaintiffs Gwen and Kazia who insist that the Canada’s FATCA “agreement” with US violates their Charter rights (sections 8 and 15) and Canada’s sovereignty and that the FATCA IGA legislation goes too far?]

Ms. in’t Veld responds to the Moscovici letter in an article by Helen Burghof:

— “…I was not surprised by the commission’s refusal to take action – to my regret, I note that is consistent with their attitude so far – but I was surprised by the denigrating tone of the letter…The real problem is of course the blunt refusal by member state governments, with the exception of the Netherlands and France, to stand up for the rights of their citizens…File a complaint, with the data protection authorities, and/or the banking oversight bodies; join one of the associations that has been formed, inform your MP and/or MEP, use social media and traditional media, to make the message heard.”