Today, the Council of the European Union announced an agreement that will require European Union (EU) member states to automatically exchange information on advance cross-border tax rulings and advance pricing arrangements.  The new rules, which were agreed to at a meeting of EU finance ministers in Luxembourg, are scheduled to go into effect on January 1, 2017.  In a press release, Pierre Moscovici, European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Taxation and Customs, stated that “[a]ll EU Member States have today agreed to share more information on tax rulings given to companies which operate cross-border.  This is a major step in combating aggressive tax planning, creating greater transparency in corporate taxation and providing fairer competition for both businesses and consumers.”