Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-10-23-Speech-2-024"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20071023.6.2-024"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spoken text |
"Mr President, the report we have in front of Parliament today rightly states that tax competition in the EU has led, and continues to lead, to EU-wide economic gains by way of a dynamic corporate environment.
The CCCTB could just as easily lead to a less competitive EU and should not be supported, in my view. The EU needs to be responsive to an ever-changing global economy. Modern competitive economies need to be flexible to meet the changing requirements of new products and services. The CCCTB will undermine this flexibility for a number of reasons. An EU-wide corporation tax base will be inflexible and hinder an individual country’s ability to decide its own legal fiscal strategy, based on its particular circumstances. The CCCTB’s proponents assert that each Member State will retain its autonomy to determine its national tax rate – but will they? Is the CCCTB not the thin end of the wedge?
If the CCCTB is optional, it merely increases the number of bases available to companies and makes the system even more complex. Domestic tax law offers certainty to business. A system that is applied in a number of Member States may lead to differences over how the provisions are interpreted, bringing about uncertainty for business.
In the remaining time available to me, I can simply make some bullet points. First, taxation is a matter of national sovereignty for each Member State. The right to choose the level of public spending and the funding of such expenditure is a basic function of national democratic process. It is necessary to protect the flexibility of tax policy in rewarding enterprise and the creation of jobs and growth in the economy. A single base would do away with flexibility. There is no evidence to suggest that a common consolidated corporate tax base will address issues such as competitiveness, compliance costs for companies, transfer pricing and so on. It would not simplify EU tax issues, as the so-called ‘optional system’ proposed would add another layer, as I have just said.
The harmonisation of the tax base would lead to pressure on national tax rates. Such harmonisation will only increase the attractiveness of non-EU corporate locations. The Code of Conduct on business taxation addressed harmful tax competition. Different tax rates in EU Member States are not harmful.
I would ask the Commissioner, when he brings forward these proposals, as he suggests, next year, to please bear this in mind. Member States like Ireland have already given..."@en1
|
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples