The global agreement to reform international corporate taxation, supported by 132 countries, (see EUROPE 12753/1) is proof that multilateralism is not dead, according to the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, and the European Commissioner for Economy, Paolo Gentiloni.
In an article published on Monday 26 July by the media outlet Project Syndicate the two men recalled the EU’s commitment to multilateralism, while underlining Europe’s duty to demonstrate that multilateral action can deliver for all if every country invests in it.
And the best example of this, in their view, is the recent global agreement to reform international corporate taxation, seen as “a historic step toward fairer globalisation and a landmark achievement of effective multilateralism”.
Mr Borrell and Mr Gentiloni acknowledge that the EU has long tried to put in place a global response to the challenge of the increasing digitalisation of the economy, but that it was ultimately the constructive engagement of US President Joe Biden’s administration over the past six months that has enabled the recent breakthrough in negotiations.
Even if the agreement alone will not solve the problem of tax evasion by multinationals, it marks, in their view, “the beginning of the end of the global race to the bottom in corporate tax rates”.
In the same vein, Mr Borrell and Mr Gentiloni see the need to develop international responses in other areas, from vaccine access and the climate crisis to data security and technology standards.
See the opinion page: https://bit.ly/2WuUTyT (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)