evidence: Agreement between Switzerland and EU for automatic exchange of information in tax matters: signing and consultation Bern, 27.05.2015 - During its meeting today, the Federal Council initiated the consultation on the agreement with the EU regarding the automatic exchange of information in tax matters. The agreement was signed in the morning in Brussels. Switzerland and the 28 EU member states intend to collect account data from 2017 onward and exchange it from 2018 once the necessary legal basis has been created. By implementing the global standard, Switzerland and the EU will make an important contribution to the prevention of tax evasion. This dovetails with the Federal Council's financial market policy, which supports internationally compliant taxation. The bilateral agreement was signed in Brussels today by State Secretary Jacques de Watteville, Finance Minister Jānis Reirs from Latvia, representing the EU Presidency, and EU Commissioner Pierre Moscovici. The agreement on the automatic exchange of information (AEOI) in tax matters will apply for all 28 EU member states. The OECD's global AEOI standard has been included in full in the new agreement. To date, approximately 100 countries, including all major financial centres, have committed themselves to introducing this global standard. A first group of approximately 50 states intend to implement the standard already in 2016. The agreement between Switzerland and the EU should come into force on 1 January 2017 and the first sets of data should be exchanged from 2018, provided the approval process is completed on time in Switzerland and the EU.