During its plenary session on Tuesday 16 January, the European Parliament adopted by 324 votes to 132 its opinion on the ‘DEBRA’ directive on an allowance to reduce the tax distortion in favour of indebtedness and on the limitation of interest deductibility for corporation tax purposes (see EUROPE 13302/22).
The text’s rapporteur, Luděk Niedermayer (EPP, Czech), felt that this initiative would benefit small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), as it would help them to become both more competitive and more resilient. “It will also be key to account for the special needs of smaller companies, which often have less access to certain types of equity financing”, he added. In their opinion, MEPs advocate greater proportionality according to company size.
The EU Council has paused the file negotiations. “It was important for the European Parliament to send a strong signal of its support for ‘DEBRA’”, stressed Mr Niedermayer. “The Council has no excuse but should seek agreement in order to make our economy stronger”, he added.
Read the European Parliament’s opinion: https://aeur.eu/f/aei (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)