Brussels, 10/10/2007 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 9 October, the MEPs of the committee on economic and monetary affairs of the European Parliament adopted the own-initiative report by Sarah Wagenknecht (GUE/NGL, Germany) on the communication by the Commission on the contribution to be made by the customs and taxation policies to the revised Lisbon strategy (see EUROPE 9057). They completely modified the content of the draft report, the situation which forced the rapporteur to vote against the amended text. Whereas Ms Wagenknecht was in favour of reining in tax competition and an increased tax contribution from companies and beneficiaries of capital revenue, the MEPs took position in favour of competitive tax arrangements, to preserve the public finances, “as seen in those European countries which have in the last decade succeeded in increasing their tax revenue through tax cuts accompanied by a widening of tax bases”. This report bears the hallmark of the EPP-ED and ALDE groups, an expert explained. The majority of the Socialist MEPs abstained, with the others voting against the modified report along with their colleagues from the Greens/EFA and GUE/NGL groups. This report is set to be adopted by the EP at the plenary session of November.
The parliamentary committee “stresses that it is necessary to continue to reduce taxation on employment” as the “best way of achieving the Lisbon objective of an unemployment rate of 70%”. It “supports the Commission's efforts to establish a pan-European and uniform consolidated corporate tax base” (CCCTB), as this instrument will lead to “greater transparency”, increase cross-border trade and investment and “significantly reduce administrative costs and the possibility of tax evasion and fraud”. The committee went on to reiterate the fact that work under way on the CCCTB relates only to the tax base and “in no way affects the freedom of the member states to continue setting their own rates”. The MEPs also take the view that a “there is a need for an entirely new approach regarding duty policy”, and stress that a policy line that is oriented to the determination of the minimum tax rate at EU-level should be rejected and that the generic code of conduct should be adopted instead (see EUROPE 9457). (mb)