On Tuesday 3 December, the MEPs of the European Parliament's Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) adopted by 40 votes in favour, 11 against and 6 abstentions, a draft resolution calling for ambitious international tax reform within the OECD.
"We sent a strong message in favour of an ambitious global tax reform from the European Parliament today. To be successful, this reform must ensure that all big companies pay their fair share of tax where the value is created and where the economic activity is taking place (...) In the international debate, the European Union and the Member States should speak with one voice", said ECON Committee Chair Irene Tinagli (S&D, Italy), who prepared the draft resolution after the vote.
The text, as amended after the vote, regrets the lack of a common approach (see EUROPE 12257/2) and calls on the Commission and the Member States to agree on an ambitious position, so that the EU can speak with one voice in these negotiations.
The compromises reached between the political groups - and consulted by EUROPE - also include technical recommendations on the negotiations themselves. The text also recalls that the two pillars of the reform are complementary and of equal importance and should therefore be negotiated as an indivisible whole.
With regard to 'pillar I' of the reform (see EUROPE 12345/11), MEPs are mainly of the opinion that the scope of the reform should cover all large companies and not only those with a strong digital component or in regular contact with consumers.
MEPs also call on the Commission to straightaway prepare the necessary legislative ground for implementing the results of an international agreement into EU law.
It should be noted that the text asks that the possibilities for avoiding a legal basis that would require unanimity in the EU Council be explored by referring to the Commission's roadmap for a gradual transition to qualified majority voting.
While the text strongly encourages the Commission and Member States to reach an agreement on digital taxation at the OECD, it also supports the commitment of Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to propose a new European solution if an international agreement is not reached by the end of 2020. (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)