Mr. Philip Kermode:

One can turn around this subject whatever way one likes but one finally comes back to the question of what is acceptable to different jurisdictions as competition and what is not, which I why I think it is such a critical issue to it. It is clear that in some jurisdictions the whole issue of taxation is presented as being a real competitive element. Certainly, in the Commission we have never had a difficulty with the idea of what we would regard as fair tax competition, that a good simple straightforward tax system is an asset. There is no doubt about that. What is problematic is putting things in place which are, by their nature, predatory. Particularly in the European Union, it is a problem because of the limitation that member states have in the anti-abuse permissions they can place. Either one says, we must have some agreement on the basis of how we work, in which case one does not need this panoply of protective measures which create the burden on businesses, or one tries to find another solution, but another solution is quite difficult.

One can expect in this debate that many jurisdictions will point the finger at others and it is quite possible the finger can be pointed back.