Brussels, 12/01/2015 (Agence Europe) - The Commissioner for Taxation, Pierre Moscovici, has confirmed that the awaited proposal on the automatic exchange of information on tax rulings “will be grafted to the 'administrative cooperation' directive”, which already provides for such automatic exchanges when certain conditions are met.
The Commissioner, who has the bit firmly between his teeth, hopes to present an “ambitious, simple, clear and unembellished” text in the first quarter of 2015. According to a Commission source, the proposal is to be presented in early March, a timetable which is too slow for Moscovici's liking.
Imposing a requirement of transparency on multinational companies by obliging them to publish details of the 'rulings' they enjoy in their annual reports - an idea initially put forward by the co-President of the Greens/EFA group at the European Parliament, Belgium's Philippe Lamberts - is also making headway and could become reality, but only “after” changes have been made to the 'administrative cooperation' directive, Moscovici explained. The European accounting standards rules would then be amended.
When contacted by EUROPE, Lamberts said that he welcomed the news and reiterated that this would help to get round the requirement for unanimity on taxation matters. The MEP discussed the matter with Moscovici, but also with Frans Timmermans, the first vice-president of the European Commission, in December of last year. He said that the project could move forward “extremely quickly” and “quickly send out the message that we are taking the will to change practices seriously”.
CCCTB. On the common consolidated corporate tax base ('CCCTB'), which the French Commissioner sees as the best response to the scandals brought to light by the 'Luxleaks' revelations, Moscovici believes that the project should be taken up again “in a different way”. Speaking before the European Parliament in November of last year, he said that part of the issue was whether the CCCTB should be optional.
FTT. Moscovici also stressed the “major political stakes” of enhanced cooperation on the financial transactions tax (FTT), which could pave the way for similar cooperation on tax harmonisation, if it proves impossible for all 28 member states to move forward together on this.
Moscovici also welcomed the intentions of the eleven states involved in enhanced cooperation on the FTT to bring the Commission back to the negotiating table, either for technical assistance, or, if applicable, to present “a new proposal”. Moscovici went on to say that the German minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, was not joking when he proposed, at the most recent Ecofin Council meeting, that his Italian counterpart, Pier Carlo Padoà, be made permanent president of the discussions between the eleven countries involved in the enhanced cooperation.
The Latvian Presidency of the Council of the EU has said that it is prepared to support the work, but only once the FTT is on the agenda at political level, and stresses that it does not wish to intervene in the work carried out by the eleven states, as it is not itself part of the enhanced cooperation. A diplomat explained that an informal meeting would be held on the sidelines of the next Ecofin Council, to be attended by the Commission and on the basis of the comments made by François Hollande. The French President recently argued in favour of “the broadest possible base” and a low rate, which is the opposite of what France has always defended in Brussels up to now. This initiative has been welcomed by some of the 'smaller' participants. In the context of this discussion, at the end of January, the question of the Presidency will be looked at, the diplomat added. However, Germany is believed to take the view that a separate Presidency or a change of format is not a priority, despite having put forward the idea in the first place. (EL)