Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

On 16 March 2011, the European Commission, which has the right of initiative to bring forward legislative proposals, published its proposal for a common consolidated corporate tax base, CCCTB. This represented the beginning of a process that involves a detailed examination of the proposal, line by line, by all member states at the Council working group. Since the Commission's proposal has been published, Department of Finance officials, along with officials from the Revenue Commissioners, have been attending the working party on tax questions which is the forum for discussions on the proposal. To date, officials have attended meetings on a regular basis on the proposal and there is still a long way to go before agreement on the Commission's proposal could be expected. The Cypriot Presidency completed a first read-through of the proposal in that member states have had the opportunity to give their initial views and ask questions, but no legislative re-drafting has occurred.

In our role as President of the Council of the European Union we will seek to be an honest broker in all tax policy discussions to see what the possibilities are for consensus and compromise among member states. Therefore, the Irish Presidency will continue with the work on the common consolidated corporate tax base, CCCTB, dossier following on from the Danish and Cypriot Presidencies. Our approach to the CCCTB proposal will reflect the views of colleagues from other member states. We intend to hold several meetings on the dossier, including a series of bilateral meetings.

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