European Union finance ministers agreed to remove the UAE, Switzerland and Mauritius from the bloc’s lists of countries deemed to be acting as tax havens. The EU set up a blacklist and a grey list of tax havens in Dec 2017 after revelations of widespread avoidance schemes used by corporations and wealthy individuals to lower their tax bills. Blacklisted states face reputational damage and stricter controls on transactions with the EU. As part of the regular review of the lists, the ministers decided to drop the UAE from the EU blacklist, which covers jurisdictions that have failed to cooperate with the EU on tax matters. The Marshall Islands has also been removed from the list, which still includes nine extra-EU jurisdictions - mostly Pacific islands with a few financial relations with the EU. The UAE, the largest financial centre which was blacklisted, was removed because in September it adopted new rules on offshore structures, the EU said, giving it a clean-sheet on its tax practices.