Brussels, 30/04/2002 (Agence Europe) - The Commission's suggestion that companies should ultimately be allowed to use a single consolidated tax base was given considerable support during a European Conference on Company Taxation hosted in Brussels on Tuesday, asserted the Commission in a press release (see EUROPE yesterday page 13). "The concept of a common consolidated tax base for the EU-wide activities of companies, which is the subject of today's Conference, is ultimately the only means of tackling the various tax obstacles in the Internal Market", explained Taxation Commissioner Frits Bolkestein. Most of the participants at the conference, which brought together more than 500 high-level taxation specialists from the public and private sectors supported the Commission line, pointed out the communiqué. Many participants' preferred approach was that of a Common Consolidated Tax Base but the Home State Taxation approach would have been preferred by small and medium sized businesses. The possibility of testing the common EU tax base in experimental "pilot projects" such as for the European Company was listened to attentively, as well as the suggestion of using the International Accounting Standards (IAS), which will be binding for the consolidated accounts of EU listed companies from 2005, as a starting point for developing a common tax base. Participants also noted the dangers that would exist if a an optional consolidated tax base existed alongside other traditional systems, such as discriminatory practices and unfair competition. Debates are continuing on the Commission web-site located at: http: //europa.eu.int/comm/taxation_customs/taxation/company_tax/index.htm