EUobserver: Reding - Governments should have no veto on taxation

12 November 2012

Member States should take decisions by majority voting, including in sensitive areas like taxation, instead of having a veto right capable of blocking attempts to harmonise rules across the EU, justice commissioner Viviane Reding has said.

"The veto right in the EU council has to be scrapped. Qualified majority voting should be extended to more policy areas, for instance taxation", Reding said. Later, she admitted that her idea - which would require a change to the EU treaty - would be highly controversial for Member States like Britain and Ireland, but also for her home country, Luxembourg. "But the veto right is a matter of principle. I believe a big family can make it only if it pulls together and seeks common decisions. If 26 want something and the 27th blocks, it is not right", she said.

She pledged to "take into account very seriously" the objections raised by several colleagues - including three female commissioners from Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands. "Using a crowbar doesn't lead to any decisions in Europe. But when there is a big majority, one or two should not block", she stressed.

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