The European Commission has included Hong Kong on a list of 30 of the most un-cooperative tax jurisdictions.

The Commission presented an Action Plan to fundamentally reform corporate taxation in the EU. The so called Action Plan sets out a series of initiatives to tackle tax avoidance, secure sustainable revenues and strengthen the Single Market for businesses. Collectively, the EU believes these measures will significantly improve the corporate tax environment in the EU, making it fairer, more efficient and more growth-friendly.

To form the list the EU assessed countries on their compliance with transparency and exchange of information standards and absence of harmful tax measures. Those on the list have been flagged up by 10 or more EU member states.

Other notable jurisdictions on the list were Guernsey, Monaco and the BVI.

Key actions include a strategy to re-launch the Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCTB) and a framework to ensure effective taxation where profits are generated. The Commission is also publishing a first pan-EU list of third-country non-cooperative tax jurisdictions and launching a public consultation to assess whether companies should have to publicly disclose certain tax information.

“The list can be used to screen non-cooperative tax jurisdictions and develop a common EU strategy to deal with them,” said the Commission. “As such, it will reinforce member states’ collective defence system against external threats to their revenues.” Pierre Moscovici, the European commissioner for tax, added that the blacklist is a “decisive step” to “push non-cooperative non-EU jurisdictions to be more cooperative and adopt international standards”.

The Commission’s full list of non-cooperate tax jurisdictions which appears on their website is: Andorra, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Cook Islands, Grenada, Guernsey, Hong Kong, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Monaco, Montserrat, Nauru, Niue, Panama, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Seychelles, Turks and Caicos Islands, US Virgin Islands, Vanuatu.