Mr. Algirdas ?emeta:

Ireland has been constructive in discussions on specific technical points regarding a common consolidated corporate tax base, CCCTB, but did not express a position on the proposal as a whole. The Irish authorities have made good proposals on how to improve the technical side of the proposal. I hope during the Irish EU Presidency there will be a political debate at the ECOFIN Council about CCCTB. It has already between discussed fully by technical experts but now it is time to discuss it politically. I consider CCCTB as a pro-business tool. It will create a new tax system which will significantly reduce the administrative burden on businesses. At the same time, it could be a tool to deal with tax fraud and evasion by large multinationals. This issue can also be discussed at the ECOFIN Council.

Regarding tax evasion and EU tax havens, we have all the necessary instruments to identify harmful tax practices. The Deputy referred to the code of conduct on business taxation. This code is designed with the objective of eliminating and preventing harmful tax practices. If any member state believes another member state is engaged in harmful tax competition, it can apply to the code of conduct group and present its case which will have to be analysed and concluded on whether the practice is harmful or fair. We have everything in place in Europe in this regard. Member states do not use the full possibilities of the provisions of the code. With our communications we hope to create a new momentum in a more active use of the code.

In the communication of 6 December 2012, we proposed to expand the scope of activities of the code of conduct group to include the issue of wealthy individuals and tax exile. If the Council agrees to adopt the expansion of the code, this issue will be analysed specifically by the code of conduct group. We have to be careful because the powers of the EU in personal taxation are very limited. It has almost no powers in this area. It means we should use the code of conduct as a tool to address this problem.

Regarding safeguards for Ireland with the FTT, when we received the request from 11 member states to launch enhanced co-operation, we had to make an assessment of its impact on various matters such as non-participating member states. Our report is publicly available and concludes enhanced co-operation will not have a negative impact on non-participating member states. Enhanced co-operation is, by the way, an open procedure so Ireland can join at any time. Some other member states, including my own country Lithuania and the Netherlands are examining joining it. Everyone would welcome it if Ireland also joined.