Business taxation: María José Garde re-elected as chair of the code of conduct group

The code of conduct group has re-elected María José Garde (Spain) as its chair, for a second term of two years starting on 5 February 2025. María José Garde has chaired this Council preparatory body that oversees the implementation of the EU’s code of conduct on business taxation group since 2023.

 

 

María José Garde is Director General of Taxation at the Ministry of Finance in Spain. She has extensive work experience in international taxation. Garde has also served as chair of the OECD Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes.

Background

The code of conduct addresses harmful tax competition, tax evasion and tax avoidance in the EU. It is a political, intergovernmental commitment by member states to monitor possibly harmful tax measures in the EU member states and remedy tax measures that could be harmful to the tax bases of other member states. The Council’s code of conduct group, established in 1998, consists of high-level taxation experts of the member states.

Its work also has an international dimension: the code of conduct group aims to promote effective changes in respect of worldwide tax good governance through cooperation. It also carries out the technical work, screening and assessment leading to the regular revision by the Council of the EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes. This EU list is regularly revised following an in-depth review of the implementation of commitments taken by all third-country jurisdictions that are part of the process.

The chair of the group, supported by the general secretariat of the Council and with the technical assistance of the Commission, is responsible for liaising with third-country jurisdictions on the EU listing process.

 

More information: Council of the European Union.