European Council

Today, European finance ministers updated the EU tax haven list. The update includes the blacklisting of three additional countries (Anguilla, Bahamas and Turks and Caicos) and the complete delisting of two countries (Bermuda and Tunisia). 

The weak EU tax haven blacklist is undermining attempts to stop government bailouts going to corporate tax dodgers, said Oxfam, ahead of the publication of a revised EU blacklist tomorrow, 6 October.

The recovery fund and long-term EU budget agreed today do not match the urgency of our current situation and the challenges ahead, said Oxfam.

Europe needs ambitious targets and concrete policies to cut emissions and tacke the climate crisis, said Oxfam at the occasion of EU heads of state and governments meeting for a European Union summit in Brussels today.

EU plans for ‘controlled centers’ for asylum seekers mean more innocent people – including children – will be forced to live in de-facto detention centers, Oxfam said today.

European leaders at the EU summit in Brussels have failed to agree on reforms to the common European asylum system. Instead, they try to respond to internal rows by reducing the space for asylum seekers even further, and want to offload their responsibilities to countries outside the EU. Oxfam argues that European agreements on migration are welcome, but they should not have a negative impact on the lives of refugees and migrants.

The EU's partnership approach for working with African countries on managing migration has to date failed to provide safe and regular channels for migration or offer long-term solutions that improve the lives of people on the move.

EU leaders must live up to their commitments to European values in responding to migration and stop copying xenophobic populist recipes, more than 170 NGOs said today in a joint statement.

EU leaders are sticking to the EU-Turkey deal, no matter what this means for the people in need, Oxfam said in reaction to discussions of EU leaders meeting in Brussels today.

Thousands of people are at risk this winter as the EU-Turkey deal keeps migrants, including refugees, stuck in dangerous and degrading conditions in Greece, a coalition of more than 20 humanitarian agencies and human rights organisations warned on Wednesday. EU leaders meeting in Brussels on Thursday to discuss migration need to take urgent action to improve the situation on the ground and save lives.