Ministers discuss the economy and public-sector efficiency

The ministers noted that the economic outlook continues to be held back by the weak recovery in Europe, and stressed the importance of continuing with economic reforms that promote growth and jobs. They also discussed reforms that effect the EU/EEA countries, particularly regulation of the financial markets.

Making the public sector more efficient also featured on the agenda, including how to use competition to improve efficiency and quality for individual citizens and for society as a whole. Reaping the benefits of this work will require reliable and accurate information as well as solid procurement and evaluation skills.  

The ministers expressed their satisfaction with the final report from a project on exchanging information with offshore tax centres that started in 2006 and ended in September. More or less all of the tax centres have now signed agreements with the Nordic countries. The project has been a huge success, significantly increasing revenues from taxable assets abroad.

 The Nordic countries are also playing an active role in global efforts to secure fair and effective taxation across national borders, offering full support to introduction of the OECD’s global standard for automatic information exchange as soon as possible.

The meeting was held under the auspices of the Nordic Council of Ministers. Iceland holds the Presidency of the Council of Ministers this year.