Triples with object While the intentions of this report were positive, it is another unfortunate case of style over substance. This is reflective of the democratic deficit which permeates the EU and means that much of the actions taken are often elaborate PR stunts. In this situation, the Council had decided on this report beforehand and only consulted Parliament after the ratification of the agreement. By way of background information, this agreement was signed on 27 May 2015 and it relates to automatic exchange of financial account information and is aimed at improving international tax cooperation and compliance. The rapporteur did present a number of very good suggestions and tabled some important critiques but the Council refused to take them on board. It was for these reasons that I abstained on the report.