More efficient law-making in taxation: a move to QMV

We were aware about the imminence of QMV, based on the messages sent in the last years by the Commission, and even by the European Parliament representatives, in relation with the revolutionary CCCTB process, and lately the digital taxation.

Removing the requirement for unanimity in decision-making in the field of taxation would go a long way to facilitating the European Union’s ability to show leadership in reaching the EU’s commitments towards achieving the SDGs while proactively engaging in multilateral discussions on global trade.

There are various arguments against this harmonisation per se, and the use of QMV to achieve it, many of which have been raised by organisations in different Member States through the Commission feedback process.

Technology Industries of Finland is strictly against transition to qualified majority voting (QMV) in EU taxation policy due to the following reasons: 1) The Commission has claimed, that the veto right has caused a significant “cost” to the EU, due to tax proposals like digital services tax (DST) and common consolidated corporate tax base (CCCTB) being blocked by some Member States.

About CESI The European Confederation of Independent Trade Unions (CESI) is a confederation of 38 trade union organisations from 19 European countries and 4 European trade union organisations, with a total of more than 5 million individual members.

DesignFirst is young technological company and our Team is deeply concerned with the proposal for removing the need for unanimous agreement by all countries on the matters of Taxation. If such proposal is adopted, Estonia as EU Member would lose its capability to determine the *adequate* Taxation framework necessary for its economy. This will impact our clients and our new product developments.

EUROCHAMBRES believes that the principle of unanimity in the field of taxation should be maintained, as it is there to preserve all EU Member States’ interests. A change to qualified voting could lead to countries being voted out where they do not share the same view as other Member States.

The Confederation of Finnish Industries EK strongly opposes the removal of unanimous decision-making in the field of taxation. First, the need for QMV is questionable. As the approval of the anti-tax avoidance package clearly demonstrates, Member States are already now able to reach unanimity in, e.g., fighting tax evasion.

A shift towards greener taxation can (among other things) help fight climate change, reduce labour taxes, boost the economy and provide flexibility for member states (MS) in determining tax policy. There are several EU tools at the disposal of MS, but existing legislation, which would require unanimous voting to amend, currently prevents it.

Taxpayers Association of Finland opposes the removal of unanimous decision-making in the field of taxation. Need for unanimity in tax affairs should be preserved an important safeguard against unreasonable new taxes and increasing overall tax burden faced by taxpayers in EU member countries. Teemu Lehtinen CEO Taxpayers Association of Finland

IOGT-NTO appreciates the possibility to provide feedback to this Roadmap. IOGT-NTO is not taking a position on the larger question of opening up for Quality Majority Voting (QMV) on certain tax matters, but wants to point out potential implications this might have for national public health policy-making, notably alcohol excise policy.

There are multiple reasons to suggest though that moving to qualified majority voting in taxation is not the best tool to achieve the objectives of the proposal.. Moving to qualified majority voting in taxation would destroy tax competition between countries, and this would have adverse effects.

Eurelectric welcomes the proposal of the European Commission to streamline EU decision-making on certain tax issues by removing the need for unanimous agreement by all countries. The evolution towards a qualified majority voting system could contribute to build more efficient sectorial regulatory provisions, starting with a revision of the Energy taxation directive.

In order to secure more efficient law-making in taxation policy, the Commission wants to substitute unanimity with qualified majority voting at the Council and consultation with codecision as far as the European Parliament is concerned. The business of today is global. DIGITALEUROPE supports comprehensive, global, long-term tax solutions negotiated through the OECD that also includes Europe’s main trading partners.

Federation of Craft Businesses in the Automotive sector and in Mobility Services (FNA) would like to thank the authors of the Evaluation Roadmap to trigger a debate and explore possibilities for moving to qualified majority voting (QMV) in taxation.

Feedback on the Roadmap of the European Commission “More efficient law-making in the field of taxation: Identification of areas for a move to qualified majority voting” The European Tax Adviser Federation, ETAF, is a European umbrella organisation for more than 250.000 tax professionals from France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Romania and Hungary.

The Institute of Economic and Social Studies (INESS) is a non-governmental and apolitical civic association founded by concerned individuals and financed by private donations and revenues from its own activities.

Currently taxation is subject to a special legislative procedure, meaning that unanimity in the Council is required for the adoption of a directive. The European competence for directives in tax matters is not only associated with amendments of existing taxes, but also with the introduction of completely new or the abolition of existing types of taxes.

We appeal to the European Commission on behalf of Lithuanian Tax Payers’ Association (Lietuvos mokesčių mokėtojų asociacija). Hereby we would like to express our strong disapproval to the proposed initiative for a number of reasons.

See the full text in the attached letter. IME Bulgaria: While IME have heralded the positive effect of Bulgaria being a member of the EU for more than 10 years now, we have also been increasingly concerned about some initiatives that aim to shift the union away from its founding principles.

Feedback to Roadmap Communication: Taxation – more efficient EU law-making procedures About CCAB-I This feedback is presented on behalf of the CCAB-I. The Consultative Committee of Accountancy Bodies-Ireland (CCAB-I) is the representative committee for the main accountancy bodies in Ireland.

Ecopreneur.eu: Move to quality majority voting on certain tax matters including the VAT Taxation policy is crucial for realising the circular economy. From the perspective of the more than 3000 green SMEs and pioneers in the membership of Ecopreneur, the economic framework should foster delivering circular products and services.

Feedback on the Commissions’ roadmap ‘towards a not legislative Communication on more efficient law-making in the field of taxation: identification of areas for a move to qualified majority voting’ ePURE, the association representing European producers of renewable ethanol from conventional and advanced feedstock welcomes the Commission initiative that explores possibilities to make EU law-making in taxation policy…

Fiscal policy is an element of the sovereignty of Member States that depends on tax collection and involves both the financing of public expenditure and the redistribution of income. It is, therefore, clear that a loss of tax sovereignty on the part of Member States is the cornerstone of the fiscal coordination undertaken by the EU institutions.

On behalf of Spain's Taxpayers Union (Unión de Contribuyentes), I hereby express our opposition and reject to this initiative. Qualified majority will in fact mean that weaker and smaller countries will be forced to follow the decisions taken by a few larger member states. This will lead to more tax "harmonization" and therefore higher taxes.

Although I agree in principle on decisions with qualified majority voting, I believe that abandoning unanimity on tax issues could lead to a more slow harmonisation of Member States’ tax systems at political level.

Filed in Italian · English published by the European Commission