As the new Subcommittee on Tax Matters (FISC) holds its constituent meeting on Wednesday 23 September, EUROPE met on Thursday 17 September with MEP Pedro Marques, spokesman for the Social Democratic group in the European Parliament for tax issues and subcommittee member (see EUROPE 12525/12).
The Portuguese MEP has high ambitions for this new standing subcommittee, which is a real victory for his political group, which has been calling for its creation for a long time.
More than a conduit for demands, it should, in his view, create a new dynamic and help to move policies on issues that have been held hostage by Member States for years, such as country-by-country tax reporting (CBCR) or the financial transaction tax (FTT).
More broadly, the top priority he will be putting forward on behalf of his group will be to work towards fairer competition in the Internal Market in terms of corporate taxation, with a focus on the implementation of international tax reform (see EUROPE 12553/16) in Europe.
According to Pedro Marques, the subcommittee will also have an important role to play in designing the new own resources for the EU budget. “The fact that we have such a large package of measures to finance is a challenge, but it is also an opportunity for those that will work on the resources”, he said.
More than that, it should, in his view, help to set a new course in the area of taxation. In this context, the MEP intends to argue in favour of a European wealth tax so that the richest take on a significant share of the financing of the European Recovery Plan.
“The middle class, especially the new generation, will have to bear the cost of the late green transition, the costs of the demographic transition, the burden of the previous crisis, which still needs to be paid, and now there is a huge new debt that will come up to respond to this crisis. At least this time, we should try to avoid burdening the same”, he said.
In theory, the subcommittee will only be able to issue own-initiative reports and carry out studies, but it will cooperate actively with the Committee on Economic Affairs (ECON) on legislative dossiers. “Whether through the ECON Committee, or directly through our subcommittee, we will find a way to have a strong role in those critical issues”, he said.
The subcommittee will also be able to organise hearings and exchanges of views, which Mr Marques said should begin with the German Presidency of the EU Council and the European Commission, as well as representatives of the OECD.
The FISC subcommittee should also be involved in the hearing of GAFA leaders in the ECON Committee (see EUROPE 12558/28). “These companies have a choice: they can choose to cooperate and be part of the solution or they can just face the consequences of not cooperating, because Europe will do something on this”, he said.
Asked about his vision of cooperation with the EU Council, which has proved difficult in the past on tax issues, Mr Marques was optimistic.
“The signs from the German Presidency are very positive”, he said, referring to the many public statements by German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz on international tax reform and issues of unfair competition in the EU.
As for the subsequent Presidencies in the next 2-3 years, they should, in his view, also “be on the same page”.
During the meeting with EUROPE, the MEP also expressed his satisfaction with the State of the Union speech delivered the day before by Mrs von der Leyen, which he described as “very European”, and welcomed the concrete references to the proposals on the EU’s new own resources, such as the digital tax.
Asked about his expectations for the upcoming hearing of the Commissioner-designate for Financial Services, Mairead McGuinness (see separate news item), Mr Marques reiterated his group’s concerns about this portfolio.
“We want to know how she will behave at the Commission, because we don’t want the traditional Irish position on taxation to be represented by Mairead McGuinness”, he said. He will pay particular attention to her position on country-by-country tax reporting. (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)