Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-11-05-Speech-3-194"

Predicate	Value (sorted: default)
rdf:type	lpv_eu:Speech2
dcterms:Date	"2003-11-05"^^xsd:date2
dcterms:Is Part Of	lp_eu:Taxation of passenger cars2
dcterms:Language	"en"^^xsd:language2
lpv:document identification number	"en.20031105.15.3-194"2
lpv:hasSubsequent	lp_eu:2003-11-05-Speech-3-1952
lpv:speaker	lp:Theresa Villiers2
lpv:spoken text	"Mr President, I am going to have to interrupt this consensus debate, because I am afraid I cannot support Mrs Honeyball’s report. Despite the protestations of the Commissioner, it is plain that this report is about harmonising taxes: it seek to produce a harmonised regime for vehicle taxation in the European Union. I do not think we need that for cross-border trade; there is no necessity there. I strongly believe that taxation is a matter that should remain within the remit of the Member States. It is of fundamental importance to ordinary people across Europe that they are free to elect the people who set their taxes. Real democratic accountability on taxation therefore requires that decisions about our taxes be taken by the governments that we elect, and not by the European Union. I find it surprising that Mrs Honeyball is supporting so warmly a report that promotes tax harmonisation on the very day that Gordon Brown is all over the Daily Telegraph saying that he does not like tax harmonisation. Our government and our Labour MEPs should try to ensure that they have some kind of consistency, because indeed Richard Corbett, as recently as this week, said 'Tax harmonisation? What is all the fuss about?!' I say this is a fundamental constitutional principle. Time and again, the Commission comes to this House and claims that this is just a technical matter, that it is just about the internal market. We are assured that we need not worry and that it does not really affect our democratic right to set our own taxes. The cumulative effect of these proposals is to strip the Member States of very real and serious powers regarding setting taxes and to remove democratic accountability from the setting of taxes, which is dangerous for democracy and is certainly unacceptable to those who elected me to represent them in this House."@en1
lpv:spokenAs	substitute; Committee on Legal Affairs and the Internal Market (2002-01-17--2004-07-19)3 member; Delegation to the EU-Cyprus Joint Parliamentary Committee (2002-03-07--2004-04-30)3 member; EPP-ED (1999-07-20--2004-07-19)3 unknown; Conservative and Unionist Party (1999-07-20--2004-07-19)3 member; ECON (2002-01-17--2004-07-19)3
lpv:unclassifiedMetadata	"Villiers (PPE-DE )."1 "does"1

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