EU: Priorities of Cyprus EU Council Presidency; state of play on implementation of DAC8 and DAC9

Cyprus on January 1, 2026, assumed the Presidency of the EU Council and released its program for the first half of 2026, which sets out the following priorities:

• Simplification (e.g., initiating work on the upcoming recast of the directive on administrative cooperation (DAC) and upcoming omnibus package to streamline direct taxation rules)
• Anti-abuse (e.g., updating EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions)
• Progress on own resources proposals within the new multiannual financial framework (MFF) for 2028 to 2034
• Progress on United Nations Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation
• Advancement of legislative work on savings and investments union (SIU)

Read a January 2026 report prepared by KPMG’s EU Tax Centre

In addition, the EU Tax Centre’s report includes updates on the state of play on implementation in the EU of:

• Council Directive (EU) 2025/872 on administrative cooperation to establish a framework for the exchange of Pillar Two information between member states (DAC9), which member states were required to transpose by December 31, 2025.
• DAC amendments to introduce provisions for the exchange of information on cryptoassets (DAC8), which member states were also required to transpose by December 31, 2025.

The EU Tax Centre’s report also notes that EU public country-by-country (CbC) reporting rules are now in effect across all member states, with the first round of disclosures for most in-scope multinational enterprises (MNEs) being due by the end of 2026 (with respect to financial year 2025 for calendar year taxpayers).