On Tuesday 11 October, the finance ministers of the EU are expected to "encourage" the Commission to "explore the possibility for future action at EU level" to protect whistleblowers, "while respecting the principle of subsidiarity".
This statement, which is included in draft conclusions prepared for the meeting of the Ecofin Council and of which EUROPE has had sight, is the clearest signal so far sent out by the member states. It was approved without discussion at the level of the national ambassadors to the EU (Coreper). This version of the text was, however, an amended version, according to a source close to the talks.
The European Parliament is also pushing for an initiative. The Commission has so far said that it does not have a legal basis to launch a legislative initiative, but the Parliament has made it its business to find one. The issue will be the subject of an own-initiative report, the author of which will be appointed by the committee on legal affairs on 12 or 13 October.
The legal services of the EU seem increasingly to be preferring an approach built on the case-law theory of the recognition of implicit competences (see EUROPE 11628). This proposal was presented to the Parliament for the first time in July this year (see EUROPE 11601).
The Council's draft conclusions also recognise that improving tax certainty, a concept taken up at OECD level, may help to boost the competitiveness of the EU. Theoretically, the Commission will present a package to this effect on 26 October, aiming to create a fair, competitive and stable corporate taxation system for the EU. Amongst other things, the package will contain the relaunch of the common consolidated corporate tax base (see EUROPE 11632). (Original version in French by Élodie Lamer)