Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-12-13-Speech-3-187"
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"en.20001213.7.3-187"2
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"Mr President, some old shibboleths have resurfaced in this debate. There are those who reject any form of taxation, including tax on e-commerce. There are those who, rather than trying to resolve a question at European level, imagine that it is always better to refer it to other fora so as not to resolve it. I am thinking in particular of Mr Dell'Alba’s intervention. There are those, like Mr Titford, who vigorously defend their own national interest, preferring tax competition to European coordination. I am not among these. Like Mr Skinner, I think that the proposals from the rapporteur, Mr García-Margallo y Marfil, regarding VAT on e-commerce are good. We do, in fact, think that we must review our tax system in the light of technological developments.
The current situation is an unfavourable one. The facts are that, today, a French person can purchase software from an American company exempt from VAT, whereas an American making a similar acquisition from a French company is taxed at the rate current in France. I see this as a double competitive advantage for the American company. I am not sure that this is the best way of supporting our own e-commerce industry. Now, it seems that very many voices, in this Chamber too, have been raised in support of this industry.
We think this distortion of competition between Member States and third countries is unacceptable. The Commission’s proposals would permit progress towards greater coordination, and they are along the right lines. Then, there is the argument according to which a sector should be exempt from tax on the grounds that it is experiencing rapid growth. That is not my view. Finally, the French Presidency’s proposals were discussed, according to which tax should be levied at the point of consumption, with a requirement for service providers to be registered in all the Member States. Our rapporteur’s proposal echoes those of the Commission, favouring one-off registration in a single Member State. If this can provide the basis for a compromise, it will probably be a good compromise as long as it is not used to reintroduce distortion of competition due to the different VAT rates applicable in our various Member States. The equalisation mechanism proposed by our rapporteur is along these lines. That is why, together with the other members of my group, I shall support the proposal."@en1
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