The French President, Emmanuel Macron, met, on Thursday 26 August in Dublin, with the Irish President, Michael Higgins, and the Irish Prime Minister, Micheál Martin, to discuss several current issues, including the global tax reform negotiated at the OECD, which Ireland has not yet signed up for (see EUROPE 12753/1).
Asked about this in a press conference, Mr Macron assured that he would “not put any pressure” on the Irish government and that he respects the Irish economic model, which has produced “tremendous results” in recent years.
However, the post-Covid-19 world will require profound changes to European business models, he pointed out, stressing that European citizens can no longer stand for when an SME pays its fair share of taxes while a large digital company does not.
This said, Emmanuel Macron claimed he was “confident” that a “good path” and a “change that will suit Ireland” can be found on this issue.
For his part, Micheál Martin reported a “good discussion” with his French counterpart and assured that, while Ireland maintains reservations on some aspects of the reform, it will continue to be constructive in the OECD discussions.
The French and Irish Finance Ministers, Bruno Le Maire and Paschal Donohoe, also discussed this subject. (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)