18 November 2013

Taxation policy: President Barroso calls for "significant political effort"

In order to achieve concrete results on taxation policy at the next European Council meeting, "a significant political effort will be needed from Finance Ministers", President Barroso wrote in a letter to the European Council.

"As the last ECOFIN meeting showed, some of our proposals are already technically ready for adoption but do not have the necessary unanimous support from all Member States", European Commission President Barroso pointed out in his letter sent to the President of the European Council, all EU Heads of State and Government and the President of the European Parliament. "If we are to be able to register concrete results in December, a significant political effort will be needed from Finance Ministers ahead of their next meeting", he urged.

90 per cent of European citizens think effective action is needed to ensure that companies pay their fair share of taxes, recent Eurobarometer evidence shows. More fairness and more transparency in corporate taxation are precisely the key objectives of the Commission's tax proposals. Some of these proposals have been on the table since 2008 and are still awaiting adoption, President Barroso emphasised. This is specifically the case for the Savings Tax Directive, which would close existing tax loopholes and, together with the proposal to expand the scope of the Administrative Cooperation Directive, would ensure that the EU has full automatic exchange of information from the start of 2015 for all forms of income. Other Commission proposals tackle money laundering and make beneficial ownership of companies more transparent. "The Commission will table the last of its proposals – a revision to the Parent-Subsidiary Directive to address double non-taxation of hybrid instruments – by the end of this month", the President wrote.

"In May the European Council set out a clear determination to deliver a significant shift towards more fairness and more openness in corporate taxation. It is now time to get on and adopt the proposals that are on the table", he concluded.

Full letter

© European Commission