The ministers of Economy and Finance of the European Union (Ecofin) have decided this Friday to exclude Panama and Vietnam from the 'blacklist' of tax havens in which the European Union groups jurisdictions considered non-cooperative in tax matters.
The update of the list responds to the reforms undertaken by both countries to adapt to international standards of good fiscal governance. After this review, there are now eight jurisdictions that continue to be flagged, including Russia and the United States Virgin Islands.
In the list of territories that remain classified as tax havens are also American Samoa, Anguilla, Guam, Palau, Vanuatu, and the Turks and Caicos Islands.
According to the statement released by the Council after the Ecofin decision, Panama had been included in the 'blacklist' since February 2020, but has modified its "harmful regime of exemption from foreign income" and, in addition, the OECD Global Forum has reassessed its situation in relation to the rules on tax information exchange.
As for Vietnam, it had only appeared on the list since February of this 2026, after it was detected that it did not meet the standards for tax information upon request, although these deficiencies have been corrected "after a series of reforms."