Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-12-01-Speech-4-018"
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"en.20051201.3.4-018"2
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"Mr President, your use of your leadership position to deliver yourself of political statements can be said to be an image issue, but these things, technical though they may sound, do touch upon the fundamentals of our life as a Community. It is also always the case that issues of VAT have to do with justice. It cannot fail to be noted that this European Union of ours is resorting, in its weakness – for our organisational teeth no longer bite – to the artificial aid provided by VAT in order to be able to build up a certain amount of tax revenue worthy of the name. This is a very unfair way of going about things, since, as we know, VAT very often hits the wrong people.
There are two Austrians who might be able to give you an example of how to do things. With one of them – Bruno Kreisky – you will already be familiar, whilst you probably have yet to become acquainted with the other, Karl-Heinz Grasser. It was Kreisky who, all those years ago, saw very clearly that we would get nowhere with approaches of this kind. Instead, we must focus our efforts – above all with regard to VAT rates – on the VAT applied in areas where we can get back some of what we lose elsewhere, for example the things that the rich really like: luxury limousines, yachts and second homes. The aim of the amendment is to put a stop to such things, and I regard this as wrong-headed. Karl-Heinz Grasser is trying, in Austria at least – and in this I think he is exemplary – to prevent companies operating at an international level from shifting their input tax around without ever actually having to hand over any VAT. One opportunity for the next Council presidency might be to move forward, at least on the European level, with regard to the shutting-off of VAT loopholes."@en1
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