Discussions on the establishment of a standing subcommittee on tax issues in the European Parliament have resumed and are progressing. According to two parliamentary sources, while the areas of competence are still to be clarified in the coming weeks, there is already an agreement between the political groups that its chair should be returned to the S&D group.
The agreement was reached in the framework of the negotiations on the creation of special parliamentary committees (see EUROPE 12417/4), a parliamentary source told us.
Unlike special committees, there is no mandate to be adopted for a subcommittee, but an amendment to Annex VI of the European Parliament's Rules of Procedure on the competences of standing parliamentary committees is needed to specify that the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) is "assisted" by a subcommittee on taxation issues.
The wording of this amendment is still under discussion, according to the same source. One question that arises is whether or not money laundering will be included in its areas of work, since the European Parliament's Committee on Legal Affairs (JURI) also has competence in this area.
The idea is to have a platform for the Parliament to develop and discuss its positions before the European Commission submits its legislative proposals, the source explained. It should be made up of between 30 and 35 members, selected from among the members of the ECON Committee.
The political group coordinators for the ECON Committee had already given the go-ahead for the creation of this subcommittee in September 2019 (see EUROPE 12329/11). But it is up to the Conference of Presidents (CoP) of the Parliament to approve its creation, which is likely to take place in March, according to our sources.
After a vote in plenary session to adopt the amendment to the Parliament's Rules of Procedure, a constituent meeting of the subcommittee should take place sometime in April, so that work can begin around May. (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)