The Commission welcomed the formal adoption on 29 May of new EU rules to prevent tax avoidance via non-EU countries. The agreed rules will stop companies from escaping tax by exploiting the mismatches between Member States’ and non-EU countries’ tax systems (“hybrid mismatches”). The new rules complete the Anti Tax Avoidance Directive (ATAD), which ensures that binding and robust anti-abuse measures are applied throughout the Single Market. They will come into force on 1 January 2020, with a longer phasing-in period of 2022 for one provision (Art. 9a). The rules build on the solid anti-avoidance safeguards initiated by the Juncker Commission and agreed upon at the EU level, including a host of new tax transparency rules. Moreover, the Council and the European Parliament are currently negotiating other important proposals to prevent tax abuse, such as public country-by-country reporting, stronger Anti-Money Laundering provisions and tighter good governance rules for EU funds.