28.1.2015 Official Journal of the European Union L21/1 (Legislative acts) DIRECTIVES COUNCIL DIRECTIVE (EU) 2015/121 of 27 January 2015 amending Directive 2011/96/EU on the common system of taxation applicable in the case of parent companies and subsidiaries of different Member States THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 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 (%), Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee (?), Acting in accordance with a special legislative procedure, Whereas: (1)  Council Directive 2011/96/EU (*) exempts dividends and other profit distributions paid by subsidiary companies to their parent companies from withholding taxes and eliminates double taxation of such income at the level of the parent company. (2) It is necessary to ensure that Directive 2011/96/EU is not abused by taxpayers who fall within the scope of its application. (3)  Some Member States apply domestic or agreement-based provisions aimed at tackling tax evasion, tax fraud or abusive practices in a general or in a specific way. (4)  However, those provisions may have different levels of severity and, in any case, they are designed to reflect the specificities of each Member State’s tax system. Moreover, some Member States do not have any domestic or agreement-based provisions for the prevention of abuse. (5)  Therefore, the inclusion of a common minimum anti-abuse rule in Directive 2011/96/EU would be very helpful to prevent misuse of that Directive and to ensure greater consistency in its application in different Member States. (6)  The application of anti-abuse rules should be proportionate and should serve the specific purpose of tackling an arrangement or a series of arrangements which are not genuine, that is, which do not reflect economic reality. (*) Opinion of 2 April 2014 (not yet published in the Official Journal). (%) Opinion of 25 March 2014 (O] C 226, 16.7.2014, p. 40). () Council Directive 2011/96/EU of 30 November 2011 on the common system of taxation applicable in the case of parent companies and subsidiaries of different Member States (O] L 345, 29.12.2011, p. 8).