Brussels, 13/10/2010 (Agence Europe) - As he announced on 7 October, Taxation and Customs Union Commissioner Algirdas Šemeta launched the new Tax Policy Group (TPG) in Brussels on Tuesday 12 October, discussing the recommendations of the Monti report (see below) and taxation of the financial sector in the light of the guidelines recently published by the Commission (see EUROPE 10231).
The TPG is the instrument specifically for discussion of such issues. This high-level discussion forum - chaired by the commissioner himself and on which will sit the personal representatives of member states' finance ministers - will meet regularly to explore the scope and priorities for tax policy coordination among member states. Issues such as how taxation can contribute to a stronger internal market, to maintaining growth and competitiveness and to a “greener” economy will be debated. It will provide the Commission and member states with a forum for exchanging views on proposals before they are put on the table and to push forward discussions on important taxation matters in a relaxed and informal situation.
Setting up the new Tax Policy Group, which Commissioner Šemeta made one of the priorities of his term of office, responds to one of the recommendations of the Monti report on the relaunch of the internal market called for by Commission President José Manuel Barroso in 2009 and submitted on 10 May of this year (see EUROPE 10137). In his report, Monti, who himself chaired a tax policy group in 1996 and 1997 when he was internal market commissioner, stressed the importance of having such a forum for strategic reflection and discussion to push issues forward.
The Šemeta group will, then, be perfectly placed to discuss certain of the recommendations of the Monti report which relate to coordination of tax policies, such as the priority policies on the Commission agenda which deal with company taxation (reduction of tax competition, putting in place a joint consolidated company tax base, etc), commodity taxes (amendments to VAT rules), environmental and energy taxation, and preventing double taxation of companies and individuals. Other possible topics for reflection relate to savings taxation, automatic exchange of tax information and cooperation among competent authorities. (F.G./transl.rt)