Europe's accidental Americans say they're cautiously optimistic that a recently-announced follow-up to last week's ECOFIN discussion on FATCA may at last yield results – at least in the form of an agreement by top EU officials to prioritize the accidentals' concerns, as these officials prepare to meet in coming weeks and months with their counterparts in the new Biden administration. 

Last Tuesday's eagerly-anticipated (online) discussion of the controversial American tax law known as FATCA by the EU's Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) – which had been flagged up in advance by campaigners who argue that it causes a raft of problems for "accidental Americans" as well as ordinary American expats and dual U.S./EU citizens – failed to deliver any significant breakthroughs to the law's oponents, beyond ECOFIN's assurance that it stands ready to assist those member states that seek to challenge it.