The European Commission is exploring the possibilities of using the ‘passerelle’ clause (Article 116 TFEU) to move to qualified majority voting in the EU Council and the ordinary legislative procedure in the field of taxation.
This is what Benjamin Angel, Director of the European Commission's Taxation Department, said on Wednesday 19 February at an event organised by Accountancy Europe in Brussels.
Article 116 TFEU allows the Commission to present a legislative proposal by qualified majority if it finds that competition in the single market is being distorted. Although it has never been used, its use has long been requested by the European Parliament.
"There are a number of good candidates for such an action. The Commission is only examining the possibilities (...) but frankly (...) actions will follow in this direction in the coming months and years", he assured, without however citing specific cases.
Benjamin Angel also presented the work to come. "The Commission will have an ambitious agenda in the five coming years", he said, believing that much of it will also depend on the international negotiations currently underway at the OECD on digital taxation (see EUROPE 12425/7).
In particular, the Commission is working on an Action Plan to be presented in June which should contain a proposal for a revision of the Administrative Cooperation Directive to strengthen cooperation between tax administrations and the exchange of tax information, he said.
The proposal in question should cover platforms. Five Member States have already taken legislative measures to ensure that platforms transfer application user information to tax authorities, he explained.
According to him, a "common solution must therefore be found to ensure that all tax administrations receive the information they need to address this important workstream of the economy". (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)