EU: List of non-cooperative jurisdictions updated

The Economic and Financial Affairs (ECOFIN) Council on October 9, 2026, updated the EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes (Annex I, the “blacklist”) and the state of play concerning commitments by cooperative jurisdictions to implement tax good governance principles (Annex II, the “grey list”).

Key changes include:

• Panama moved from Annex I to Annex II. Its entry concerning harmful preferential tax measures was removed following reform of its foreign-source income exemption regime in line with Code of Conduct Group guidance. Its commitment to undergo an in-depth exchange of information on request (EOIR) review by the Global Forum was recorded in Annex II.
• Vietnam moved from Annex I to Annex II after the Global Forum granted it an in-depth EOIR review following its “non-compliant” rating in the 2025 EOIR peer review process. Its commitment concerning recommendations from the 2025 BEPS Inclusive Framework peer review of its country-by-country reporting framework was also recorded in Annex II.
• Belize was removed from Annex II, and therefore from the grey list, after receiving a “largely compliant” rating in the Global Forum EOIR peer review.
• Anguilla’s Annex I entry was amended to note that it does not have a rating of at least “largely compliant” from the Global Forum.
• Vanuatu’s EOIR entry was removed after an April 29, 2026, Global Forum supplementary review rated the jurisdiction “largely compliant.”

Following the changes, Annex I comprises American Samoa, Anguilla, Guam, Palau, Russia, Turks and Caicos Islands, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Vanuatu.

Annex II comprises the British Virgin Islands, Brunei Darussalam, Eswatini, Greenland, Jordan, Montenegro, Morocco, Panama, Türkiye, and Vietnam.

The revised lists become effective upon publication of Annexes I and II in the Official Journal of the EU. The next update is expected in February 2027.

Read an October 2026 report prepared by KPMG’s EU Tax Centre