EU leaders pave the way for clampdown on tax cheats

The European Union's leaders have agreed to a clampdown on tax cheats, the bloc's top official announced Thursday, after Luxembourg and Austria dropped their opposition to the measure following years ofheel-dragging, dpa reported."This is indispensable for enabling the member states to better clamp down on tax fraud and tax evasion," EU President Herman Van Rompuysaid at a summit in Brussels.The deal comes shortly ahead of European elections in May, at which austerity-weary voters are expected to deliver gains to euroscepticparties. Revelations last year of widespread tax evasion prompted anger among those fed up with government cuts.