[FR] Taxation: unanimity to be overcome

On 15 January, the European Commission presented a communication inviting the European Council to endorse the use of ‘passerelle clauses’ in tax matters, as it has already done in foreign policy and is preparing to do in social policy. The European executive’s initiative is apparently very delicate: two emblematic tax issues (the harmonisation of the corporate tax base (ACIS) and the taxation of digital companies) are making very little progress against a backdrop of sharp and long-standing differences between Member States in a sensitive area, which does not bode well for a favourable reception from leaders. Furthermore, more pressing issues, foremost among which is Brexit, seem likely to dominate the remainder of the European legislative term. Indeed, during the recent Ecofin Council meeting in February, it became clear that Member States’ differences of opinion on this subject remain sharp. Nevertheless, the Commission’s proposal pursues laudable objectives, which should be made clear in the run-up to its debate at the upcoming meetings of the European Parliament in February, the European Council in March and the informal Ecofin Council in April. Similarly, the initiative is set to become an important issue in the European elections.

This analysis was written by Olivier Marty, an economist. He recently published, with Nicolas Dorgeret, ‘Connaitre et comprendre l’Union européenne : 35 fiches sur les institutions européennes’ (Ellipses, 2018).