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Taxation and Customs Union

Towards an Internal Market without corporate tax obstacles

Summary:

"Towards an Internal Market without tax obstacles - A strategy for providing companies with a consolidated corporate tax base for their EU-wide activities" - Brussels, 29 and 30 April 2002

Monday, 29 April 2002

Introduction - "THE NEED FOR CORPORATE TAX REFORM IN THE EU"

Keynote speeches

09.30 - 09.45 Frits BOLKESTEIN, Member of the European Commission

"Towards an Internal Market without tax obstacles" (SPEECH/02/187 )

09.45 - 10.00 Cristobal MONTORO ROMERO, Spanish Minister of Finance

10.00 - 10.15 Benedetto DELLA VEDOVA, MEP, Rapporteur of the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee for the Commission Communication on Company Taxation (European Parliament)

"Towards an Internal Market without tax obstacles - A strategy for providing companies with a consolidated corporate tax base for their EU-wide activities"

10.15 - 10.30 Philippe DE BUCK, Secretary-General of the Union of Industrial and Employer's Confederations of Europe (UNICE)

10.30 - 10.45 Emilio GABAGLIO, Secretary-General of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC)

"The need for corporate tax reform in the EU"

Session 1 - "THE CHOICE OF THE APPROACH"

Panel discussion with

  • Edward TROUP, Chair (International Fiscal Association)
    "The Choice of Approach"
  • Hervé LE FLOC'H LOUBOUTIN (Director, French Ministry of Finance)
  • Gerhard JUCHUM (Director General, German Ministry of Finance)
  • Jan VAN DER BIJL (Chairman of the UNICE Fiscal Affairs Working Group)

Which form of corporate consolidated tax base would be preferable for EU companies? Should compulsory harmonisation be a priori excluded?

Which are the common issues and differences between a mutual recognition and a harmonisation approach?

Do all Member States need to participate? Is there a potential for "enhanced co-operation" for a group of Member States?

12.15 - 13.00 General discussion.

Session 2 - "THE MEANS FOR ACHIEVING A COMMON TAX BASE"

Panel discussion with

  • Friedrich RÖDLER, Chair (Chairman of the Fiscal Committee, Confédération Fiscale Européenne)
  • Vito TANZI (State-Secretary, Italian Ministry of Finance)
  • Michael SHERRY (Chairman of the Tax Faculty, Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales)
  • Jean-Pierre TIROUFLET (Association française des entreprises privées)

How to achieve the desired "common corporate base"?

Could a "core common base" be sufficient or do we need a "full common base"?

What is the link between the common tax base and accounting rules and what role can the International Accounting Standards play?

Should we devise a special tax regime for the European Company Statute?

16.00 - 17.15 General discussion

Tuesday, 30 April 2002

Session 3 - "THE WAY FORWARD: ORGANISING THE TRANSITION IN PRACTICE"

Panel discussion with

  • Onno RUDING, Chair (President of the Centre for European Policy Studies - CEPS)
    Contribution to the European Conference on Company Taxation
  • Gaston REINESCH ( Director-General , Luxembourg Ministry of Finance)
  • Malcolm GAMMIE, QC (Barrister at the Chambers of Lord Grabiner)
  • Alfons KÜHN (Eurochambres; Head of Tax Policy, German Chambers of Commerce / Deutscher Industrie- und Handelskammertag)

Which are the priorities for the years ahead? How should the transition be organised in practice?

Should application by companies be optional or compulsory?

Is there a risk of competition or discrimination issues? How should these be addressed?

Should one start with a general implementation or progress via more limited pilot projects? Which specific role could small and medium-sized enterprises and SE companies play in this context?

Is formulary apportionment a way forward for the EU?

11.00 - 12.15 Final discussion

12.15 - 12.30 Closing remarks by M. Vanden Abeele, Director General Taxation and Customs Union

Papers contributed to the debate encompass:

Summary of debates

Conclusions

Press releases IP/02/419 of 15/03/2002 and MEMO/02/84 of 30/04/2002.

Further contributions to the debate are welcome at taxud-company-taxationatec [dot] europa [dot] eu (taxud-company-taxation[at]ec[dot]europa[dot]eu).