EU Finance Ministers met on 15 March to debate and ultimately vote on a compromise text covering the introduction of a minimum taxation by the EU Member States. While there was broad support for the compromise text, available here , it was not supported unanimously. The date on which Member States would transpose the Directive and make it effective had been changed from 1 January 2023 to 31 December 2023 in the compromise text. The UTPR is pushed out to 31 December 2024 under this compromise text. Estonia, Malta, Poland and Sweden still have reservations. Unanimous agreement is required under the special legislative procedure.
Noting the importance of this proposal to France, which holds the Presidency of the EU Council, the French Minister for the Economy and Finances, Bruno Le Maire, conceded that there was some time before the next ECOFIN meeting of 5 April 2022 to try to resolve the outstanding issues expressed by Estonia, Malta, Poland and Sweden. He suggested the proposal will be added to the agenda of April’s ECOFIN meeting and expressed hope that the proposal could be approved at that meeting.