Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-06-12-Speech-3-287"
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"en.20020612.7.3-287"2
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"Mr President, I am speaking not on behalf of my group or my committee, but on behalf of the British Conservative delegation in the European Democrat pillar within the PPE-DE Group.
We do not support the extension of the FISCALIS programme to cover direct taxes, in particular income tax and capital tax. These are areas which should remain a matter for the exclusive competence of Member States. The right to tax citizens is one of the hallmarks of a government. Increasing EU involvement in taxation could spell the death of the nation state. I know the response will be that this is just a technical scheme to exchange information and run seminars for tax officials, but I say it is one more step that takes the European Commission and the European Union closer into the tax affairs of Member States.
As Commissioner Prodi himself recently stated, very high political ambitions have often been achieved in the EU as a series of small, almost technical, steps. I suggest that this is happening with tax, in the numerous different tax initiatives and ways in which the European Commission and the European Union are seeking to enlarge their competence over areas of tax.
I reject the technical steps that take the European Union closer into the tax affairs of Member States, just as I reject the ultimate objective of allowing the European Union to levy taxes on individuals in the European Union. Democratic national governments should levy taxes. Undemocratic supranational organisations should not."@en1
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