European Union finance ministers gave the green light on Tuesday to start talks with Switzerland and Liechtenstein about surrendering bank data, as Europe stepped up its fight against tax evasion. The move, described as 'historic' by Germany's Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, redoubles pressure on Switzerland to open up account details and will likely pave the way for Austria to ditch its own bank secrecy for foreigners. By giving the European Commission the go-ahead to negotiate with Switzerland, Liechtenstein, San Marino, Andorra and Monaco, EU finance ministers hope to push for the same rules to be applied to these countries as within the European Union. The talks had long been opposed by EU members Luxembourg and Austria, which were seeking to defend their own bank secrecy, but on Tuesday their finance ministers dropped those objections. "In the battle against tax evasion, what we achieved today was undoubtedly a step forward," Algirdas Semeta, the European commissioner in
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