The European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Tax Matters (FISC) examined amendments to the own-initiative report on the role of simplicity of tax regulation and tax fragmentation in European competitiveness on Wednesday 25 June (see EUROPE 13609/18). Points of view converge on the need to simplify European tax systems, and thus gain in competitiveness.
The MEPs have already reached a number of agreements on the text. The rapporteur, Michalis Hadjipantela (EPP, Cypriot), praised his colleagues’ good spirit of compromise. “I believe we succeeded in developing a balanced and coherent report that reflects a wide range of perspectives while ensuring clarity and readability”, he said.
In the text, MEPs acknowledge that although the European Union has introduced various tax measures in recent years, these have often led to increased complexity and administrative burdens for businesses, which could compromise the overall competitiveness of the European economy. They therefore put forward “recommendations that encourage simplification, reduce the administrative burden and help to remove obstacles to cross-border gross investment, while ensuring that innovation is effective in combating tax evasion”, according to the rapporteur.
For his part, Niels Fuglsang (S&D, Danish) felt that it was important for “Member States to be able to cooperate, collaborate and coordinate to ensure an investor-friendly business environment and rules that prevent tax evasion and avoidance”. “Even if harmonisation is not as far-reaching as I would like, robust cooperation between Member States and tax administration is necessary”, added Jussi Saramo (The Left, Finnish).
Mr Fuglsang reiterated the long-standing position on the legislative dossiers pending in the EU Council, in particular the ‘Unshell’ Directive, aimed at preventing the misuse of shell companies for tax purposes, which has been blocked for over a year (see EUROPE 13438/26).
Pierre Pimpie (PfE, French) supported the text, but insisted on preserving the sovereignty of States.
The draft report will be voted on by the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) on Tuesday 15 July.
Read the amendments: https://aeur.eu/f/hkl (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)