THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 113 and 115 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,

After transmission of the draft legislative act to the national parliaments,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament [Opinion of 22 November 2016 (not yet published in the Official Journal).],

Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee [Opinion of 19 October 2016 (not yet published in the Official Journal).],

Acting in accordance with a special legislative procedure,

Whereas:

(1) Council Directive 2014/107/EU [Council Directive 2014/107/EU of 9 December 2014 amending Directive 2011/16/EU as regards mandatory automatic exchange of information in the field of taxation (OJ L 359, 16.12.2014, p. 1).], amending Directive 2011/16/EU [Council Directive 2011/16/EU of 15 February 2011 on administrative cooperation in the field of taxation and repealing Directive 77/799/EEC (OJ L 64, 11.3.2011, p. 1).], applies as of 1 January 2016 to 27 Member States and as of 1 January 2017 to Austria. That Directive implements the global Standard for Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information in Tax Matters within the Union thereby ensuring that information on Account Holders of Financial Accounts is reported to the Member State where the Account Holder is resident.