French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde revealed ahead of Thursday's summit
of EU leaders that plans to forge ahead with a common corporate tax base have
been shelved in the wake of Ireland's rejection of the Lisbon Treaty - although
EU Tax Commissioner Laszlo Kovacs has other ideas.
Lagarde told the Financial Times in an interview published on 19th June that
while the proposal for a common consolidated corporate tax base (CCCTB) had
not been abandoned, France would not urge other EU member states to back it
over the course of its six-month presidency of the bloc, which begins in July.
"It is on the agenda, but we are not pushing it," she told the FT.
France would nevertheless seek agreement on other tax questions, such as reducing
value-added tax on services such as restaurants, hotels and energy-efficient
products, she revealed.
Lagarde's recent remarks are in stark contrast to comments she made in April
this year, when she told reporters following a European Commission tax forum
that the CCCTB was an idea that the French were "determined to push".
But her about-turn is perhaps an indication of how much the EU political landscape
has changed as a result of the Irish rejection of the Lisbon Treaty, largely
on fears of an erosion in tax sovereignty.
The European Commission had delayed the presentation of an impact assessment
of the CCCTB proposal until after the Irish referendum. However, Tax Commissioner
Laszlo Kovacs has insisted that the Irish vote has no bearing on these plans,
which he intends to present later this year regardless.
"It will be during the French presidency of the EU," Kovacs told
Reuters.
"There is no reason to change our plans concerning tax policy initiatives.
The CCCTB is in the pipeline," he added.
Kovacs said that member states would retain their veto on tax proposals under
the Lisbon Treaty, and reportedly accused those that campaigned for 'No' vote with slogans
that Ireland will lose tax sovereignty of "simply telling lies".
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