The government of the Dutch Antilles has fiercely criticised attempts to label it as a haven for tax cheats, according to documents sent by the small Caribbean islands to the European Commission, media reports said.

The statements were made in a document that was sent by the State Secretary of Finance of the Netherlands Antilles, Alex Rosaria, to the Tax Directorate of the EC and is a follow-up to a meeting between Mr Rosaria and representatives of the EC earlier this year.

Mr Rosaria said the Netherlands Antilles is committed to providing a leading edge financial service industry with high-end supervision in line with international standards to protect the consumer.

“We are an active and a complying member of various international organisations such as the OECD, the Egmont Group, the Financial Action Task Force and the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force”, Mr Rosaria was quoted as saying.

The Netherlands Antilles is recognised by the OECD as a co-operative jurisdiction. In April 2008 the Egmont Group gave the Netherlands Antilles its seal of approval and the International Monetary Fund in its most recent Article IV Consultations concluded that “The financial sector of the Netherlands Antilles is broadly healthy”.

“Any reference to us being a tax haven is totally misguided, contradictory and unjust. If we were a tax haven Spain would not have concluded a Tax Information Exchange Treaty with us in June 2008”, Mr Rosaria said.