Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-10-23-Speech-2-017"

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"en.20071023.6.2-017"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, Mrs Wagenknecht had the initiative to draft a report, which is proof of the political courage it took to highlight the redistributive and social dimension of taxation policy. This document is one of the more important pieces of evidence showing that the debate on taxation policy may become Europe-wide. The commitment to meet the Lisbon targets, the rules of the Stability and Growth Pact, the obligation to administer and redistribute tax revenue so that it meets cohesion and employment objectives, and the completion of the internal market - all these are proof enough of a political aim. The taxation policies of Member States can no longer be based exclusively and solely on national criteria: dialogue on taxation is becoming necessary to promote greater tax coordination throughout Europe. Given such a dialogue, which has enabled substantial cooperation between the shadow rapporteurs of all the political groups, we have concentrated on the following fundamental points. Firstly, on the issue of tax competition, we do not believe that the object ought to be to curb the principle of tax competition, for this would be tantamount to censuring the policies of certain Member States. Owing to the lack of common rules on tax policy issues, tax competition with its offers and counter-offers of low tax rates creates problems. As is also the case for the other sectors of the internal market, however, tax competition can ensure competitiveness and improve the productivity of national economies, as well as that of Europe as a whole, provided that the rules curbing the growth of harmful competition obtain. The second point we focused on was the relation between direct and indirect taxation. A trend has recently been noticed in Member States to increase indirect taxation, in most cases to cover their fiscal deficits. This is a burden for consumers, however, and the market remains unmonitored. The aim of this report is to find safety measures facilitating a balanced combination of direct and indirect taxes. We are in favour of a revision of the system of VAT and special consumption taxes. This should not mean that it is replaced by a code of conduct not binding on all the Member States. Commissioner, we are aware of the efforts of the Commission and the problems at Ecofin. Nonetheless, we as members of the European Parliament must above all closely cooperate with national parliaments to debate this major fiscal policy."@en1

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