Spain Pledges to Speed Up Work on Stalled Shell Company Rule

Spain wants to use its presidency of the Council of the European Union to unblock a draft rule on screening for shell companies used to avoid taxes, the country’s state secretary for the EU told European Parliament lawmakers Wednesday.

The draft rule, known as the Unshell Directive, was “extremely important to make sure we have fair and efficient taxation,” and Spain would seek to gain agreement from all EU finance ministers at a summit in November, said Pascual Navarro Ríos.

Under the Unshell Directive, companies would be screened for economic substance, with those found lacking denied tax benefits. EU ...