Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-10-23-Speech-2-015"
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"en.20071023.6.2-015"2
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"Mr President, I am really pleased to be able to discuss with you the contribution of taxation and customs policy to the Lisbon Strategy.
A major priority of the European Union is to improve its competitiveness while preserving its social model. Taxation policy has a major role to play in helping to achieve growth and employment objectives. I welcome the essential message of your report, which is one of support for the Commission’s initiatives in the tax area. In particular, it encourages increased efforts concerning the Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCTB), the home state taxation pilot scheme proposal, the strategy ensuring better coordination of Member States’ tax systems particularly in the field of exit taxation and cross-border loss relief, the work undertaken by the joint transfer pricing forum, the strategy to combat tax fraud, the VAT package, the reduced VAT rates on labour intensive services and environmental taxation.
All these files are extremely important. They are the core of the Commission’s approach to tax policy and many of them have been discussed in several committees of the European Parliament. It is clear that European companies deserve a system of corporate taxation adapted to the degree of their actual and potential economic integration at the scale of their cross-border activities in Europe. This is one of the keys to their future competitiveness. It is also essential that other direct tax obstacles find a solution by coordination and not only through costly litigation.
There is only one area where I cannot follow you. This is in paragraph 17 of the Wagenknecht report, as it stands now, where it asks for the suppression of minimum rates for excise duties and the replacement of current Community legislation in this domain by a code of conduct. We discussed these elements in this House when dealing with the proposal on alcohol taxation and, with all due respect, I have got to say that the Commission has not changed its mind.
Community legislation on excise duties in general has an important role to play in order to reduce distortion in the internal market, to protect public health and to gear consumption patterns towards more environmentally sustainable behaviour. The Commission strongly believes that minimum rates are necessary for the proper functioning of the internal market by providing a safety net for Member States which ensures that all Member States actually apply excise duties and that the levels are meaningful. I hope that the tabled amendment which aims at changing paragraph 17 will be endorsed by a majority of Members.
I would like to conclude with three messages. Firstly, you all know that my services are working very hard to table a legislative proposal on the CCCTB which I intend to present to you after the summer break in 2008. Secondly, in the VAT field, the Commission fully supports the Portuguese Presidency in its efforts to reach agreement on the VAT package and also to advance substantially the broader debate on VAT rates before the end of the year. We can also work to ensure adoption of the proposal for prolonging certain derogations in new Member States on reduced VAT rates. In addition, we will continue our intense efforts to combat VAT fraud and we will soon come forward with a proposal on the VAT treatment of financial services that will provide the sector with more legal certainty and with modernised rules. Thirdly, we remain committed to a system of minimum rates in excise duties in order to reduce distortion and to promote fair competition in the internal market to contribute to the protection of public health and to the environment."@en1
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