EN - ECON Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs - #AnnualTaxReport - Presentation by Rapporteur Eva Kaili (S&D/ Με την Ελιά, EL): opening remarks - 15.12: Thank you very much. Chairman, honourable members, it is an honour for me to present you today the annual tax report of the European Parliament. The EP has been working for years on taxation policy and has already produced many key reports, campaigns and also political fights that are now a reference of what should change on tax policy of EU for the member states, the Commission and the Council. So today, at the ECON committee, we submitt this report as a concrete action plan for the Commission and the Council to pursue in the forthcoming months. This report contains all the key areas of legislation and also non legislative acts where action is needed and solutions must be given. This action plan can serve as a check-list during the next year to estimate the efficiency of the Commission and the ECOFIN, so all the Ministers have to stand up to the expectations of EU citizens. What I must point out is that what we have has been calling for all this time and we have put on the table with this report, has already been acknowledged by three Ministers of Finance of Italy, France and Germany in their letter to Moscovici for tax harmonization in the EU. Of course we welcome the Commitment of the Commissioner to act immediately as he said, and present results during the first semester of 2015. But of course we will judge upon results delivered! More specifically, what we propose is an holistic approach in taxation policy. Taxation policy can be a pragmatic tool to deepen the Economic Monetrary Union. We identify 3 main priorities: 1. Targeted tax measures to boost the benefits of the Internal Market, 2. Measures on fighting tax fraud, tax evasion, aggressive tax planning and tax havens and 3. Tax Harmonization for a long term growth oriented economic policy. These priorities act complementary to each other. So, these are our concrete proposals per priority: 1. Targeted tax measures to boost the benefits of the Internal Market. We call for: -increased transparency on taxation rules and regulations, the taxpayer must know the rules he must comply to. -the Commission to develop proposals to tackle tax obstacles to cross-border activity and reduce administrative burden. -the Commission to put forward concrete proposals to tackle the VAT gap and evaluate proposals on a definitive VAT regime. -a mandatory corporate common tax base as the solution to company tax obstacles. -an ambitious Financial Transaction Tax which includes not only stocks but also derivatives. 2. Fighting tax fraud, tax evasion, aggressive tax planning and tax havens This priority is extremely important. Immediate, coordinated and comprehensive action is needed. We call for: -the Commission’s follow up and further initiatives on its two recommendations on “minimum standards of good governance in tax matters for third countries” and “aggressive tax planning” -conclusion of the savings tax agreements with third countries to abolish bank secrecy (Switzerland, San Marino, Monaco, Lichtenstein, Andorra). -the Commission to introduce tangible targets for minimizing the tax gap by 2020 so that we have a clear commitment and pressure to deliver in the fight against tax avoidance. -extension of Country by Country reporting to monitor where profits are located and where taxes are paid. We call especially for -information exchange to cross border tax rulings, to achieve transparency and tax profit where it is produced (Not like what happened in LuxLeaks) -on a common EU position and a set of criteria for the definition of Tax Havens -for a European Black List of Tax Havens -for strong sanctions against banks that make fraud possible for the multinationals. -for strong sanctions against companies involved in fraud by not granting EU funding or access to state aid clearance. -the Commission to intensify its use of EU state aid rules against aggressive tax planning. -the Commission to propose an EU anti-BEPS directive (base erosion and profit shifting/tax avoidance and tax fraud) and the Council to swiftly agree to it. 3. Tax Harmonization for a long term growth oriented economic policy. We call for: -strengthening the use of the European Semester to achieve well-defined structural tax reforms. -increased tax policy harmonisation by, inter alia, integrating an EU tax gap strategy into the economic governance framework in order to have clear commitments on the prevention of tax avoidance. Last but not least we call for -qualitative indicators (social, environmental), apart from macroeconomic, to ensure the future of next generations. -shift of tax burden away from labour to other forms of taxation-we call on the Commission to reflect on new and innovative tax forms (for example FTT) -also in this context, we call on the Commission to come forward with appropriate proposals for environmental taxation in line with the EU 2030 strategy. So dear colleagues and Chairman, this is an important momentum that we must grasp to restore Europe’s credibility. The eyes of the public are focused on the Parliament as well as the Commission and the Council. This immediate action plan is the alternative to the introduction of increased levels or new forms of taxation. Our citizens lay their expectations to us to secure the additional revenues and deploy a credible tax policy to foster investment, growth and development. We must stabd up to their expectations to prevent another LuxLeaks story..we have the legislation as you see presented today already. So what lies in your hands is not a simple wish list for Xmas, its a task list for next year. It is what we have to follow up.. So, with this report as a basis for our deliberations, we insist on the Commission to present as soon as possible and all ECOFIN Ministers to swiftly agree and implement our proposals. Thank you for your attention. Special thanks to Eva Kaili for the great help on the transcription © Frédérick Moulin 2014 - EU2014 - All rights reserved.
Posted on: Fri, 19 Dec 2014 15:57:35 +0000
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015