EU Member States must end the deadlock on tax dumping

“It is high time for the European Commission to make use of all options provided in the Treaties to fight tax dumping. In times like these when we are passing multi-billion Euro economic stimulus packages, we cannot afford to waste a single cent in tax revenue“, said Markus Ferber MEP, EPP Group Spokesman on Economic Affairs, ahead of today's presentation of the Anti-Fraud Tax Package by the European Commission.

Ferber proposes to break the deadlock in tax matters by treating tax schemes of certain EU Member States as detrimental to the functioning of the Internal Market by use of Article 116 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. This would allow for taking decisions by qualified majority among EU Member States instead of demanding unanimity as is the case today.

“However, if the Commission chooses to use Article 116, it will be key for Member States to go along. We need a coalition of the willing that calls out those Member States with dodgy tax schemes“, Ferber added.

“We want to fight cross-border tax fraud effectively, which also means that tax authorities in different Member States have to be able to exchange information in real time. A better flow of information will make things easier for companies that operate cross-border, particularly Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises“, Ferber concluded.