The EU Competitiveness Council approved the draft Directive on public Country-by-Country Reporting (CbCR) late in September. The adoption of the Council’s position follows a provisional agreement reached with the European Parliament in June.

The CbCR Directive will require certain multinational undertakings with revenue of more than €750 million to disclose publicly the income tax they pay. Under the draft Directive, non-European multinationals doing business in the EU through subsidiaries and branches will also have to comply with the same reporting obligations as EU multinational undertakings.

The next step before the Directive can enter into force is the formal approval of the provisional agreement by the European Parliament. It will be subject to legislative procedure which requires qualified majority voting. Member States will have 18 months from the entry into force of the Directive to transpose it into national law.