Experts and politicians seemed optimistic that the Hungarian veto on the proposed directive related to the OECD agreement on minimum taxation of companies (see EUROPE 13029/17) would be lifted, at the taxation conference organised by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Taxation and Customs Union (DG TAXUD) on Monday 28 November. If so, this text could be on the agenda of the Ecofin Council on Tuesday 6 December.
The European Commissioner for the Economy, Paolo Gentiloni, reaffirmed his commitment to implementing this reform, which establishes a minimum tax rate of 15% for multinationals in the EU, in accordance with the international agreement reached in 2021 at the OECD. “I remain convinced that a swift implementation of this package is feasible”, he said.
Mathias Cormann, OECD Secretary-General, noted that other countries are on track for implementation, including Switzerland, the UK, Canada, the United Arab Emirates and Singapore. While he would prefer an agreement in the EU Council, he was pleased to note that some countries have also announced national implementation in the absence of unanimous agreement by Member States at EU level (see EUROPE 13018/8).
Daniele Franco, former Italian Finance Minister, and Nadia Calviño, Spanish Minister for Economic Affairs, assured that their countries had made this choice. “This is going to be a top priority during the Spanish Presidency” of the EU Council in the second half of 2023, she announced.
For Marnix Van Rij, Dutch Secretary of State for Taxation, Hungary’s opposition has nothing to do with the second pillar of the OECD agreement. The ‘passerelle’ clause which, according to the European treaties, allows the unanimity vote to be replaced by a qualified majority vote in the Council, is not really a possibility, as it requires unanimity in order to be activated. He recalled that the Dutch national parliament had refused to change this rule on taxation.
Similarly, Zbyněk Stanjura, the Czech Finance Minister, reaffirmed his commitment to unanimity in the Council. “Each EU Member State has its own tax system, which is logical because the economic and geographical conditions of each State are different”, he said.
‘Enhanced cooperation’ between Member States appears to be a possibility, according to Mr Van Rij.
On Pillar I on the taxation of the digital sector, Mr Cormann was equally optimistic. “We will be able to finalise the draft multilateral convention to be signed by mid-2023 for Pillar I, but will need a continuous compromise from all sides”, he said.
Achieving this target would allow the States Parties to the Agreement to comply with the wishes of the G20 countries (see EUROPE 13064/21). (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)