From Monday 3 to Thursday 6 February in New York, the Member States of the United Nations discussed a framework convention on tax cooperation, aimed in particular at taxing multinationals and the wealthiest individuals more fairly (see EUROPE 13530/20). Discussions focused mainly on organisation, and in particular the decision-making rules.
As soon as the discussions began, the United States announced its withdrawal from the process. “The objectives ‘are in contradiction with American interests’, said US representative Jonathan Shrier”, according to AFP. This announcement comes after the country announced, in late January, that it was withdrawing from the international reform on minimum tax on companies (see EUROPE 13562/8, 13574/22).
“Despite calls from the US delegation for other countries to follow their example and leave the process, all other UN Member States remain engaged in the negotiation”, reported the European Network on Debt and Development (‘Eurodad’) in a press release published on Friday 7 February.
According to Tove Maria Ryding, in charge of tax coordination at Eurodad, who attended the organisational session in New York, “the UK, Malta, the Czech Republic, Italy and France introduced a proposal for an amendment that would have introduced consensus decision-making, but this was voted down by an overwhelming majority”. “Instead, a compromise was found with the adopted rules stipulating that decisions regarding protocols require two-thirds majority, and the convention itself can be decided with simple majority”, she continued. (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)