Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-02-08-Speech-1-091"
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"en.20100208.14.1-091"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, for some weeks now, it has been fashionable to worry about the budget deficits of certain Member States. One can, of course, criticise some examples of public spending – and we shall not refrain from doing so – one might refer to the billions of euros in subsidies for fossil fuels, but let us not forget, as the Socialist Member said, that the increase in public deficits is the result, first and foremost, of the financial and economic crisis.
I do not believe that the governments need to be taught lessons in sound management by those who, due to their predilection for risky operations – financed, believe it or not, by debt – were the cause of the crisis.
This being the case, we agree that the public deficits are unsustainable at their current levels because they reduce the possibility of Europe spearheading the worldwide Green New Deal that it sorely needs. We must therefore confront the issue not just on the ‘spending’ front, but also on the ‘income’ front, and this is the spirit in which we are reading the reports tabled today, in particular, those by Mrs Alvarez and Mr Domenici.
By making the automatic exchange of information between tax authorities the norm, they give the Member States the means to tackle tax fraud seriously. I would remind you that the estimated annual amount of tax fraud is EUR 200-250 billion, or two per cent of GDP. Before we even talk about restructuring the European tax regime, let us ensure that tax due is collected.
Moreover, the draft supports the introduction of a common tax base for company taxation, which will clarify matters both for taxpayers and for the Member States. In so doing, it will be a step forward, but it should pave the way not for more competition but for more cooperation. It is time we put an end to fiscal dumping, to this road to ruin that is undermining the tax receipts of the Member States, and to the detriment of whom? Of the taxpayer and of SMEs, which do not have the resources of the big transnational companies to play the Member States off against each other.
The consolidated tax base is therefore, in our view, the prerequisite for the introduction − in line with what we are doing for VAT − of a progressive harmonisation of tax rates for companies, beginning with the setting of minimum thresholds.
Finally, establishing a sustainable basis for the Member States’ tax regimes will require much deeper changes: reducing the charges on income from employment and offsetting this reduction through the introduction of a progressive tax on energy – on non-renewable energy resources − and of a tax on financial transactions and profits. However, as my grandmother used to say, that is another story.
In the meantime, the Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance congratulates Mrs Alvarez and Mr Domenici on their excellent work, which has not merely repeated the past positions of the European Parliament, but has made them more ambitious and more practical.
I will finish by also saying a word of farewell to Mr Kovács. I was not here when you arrived. My colleagues have told me that the impression that you have given them through your actions is much better than the one you gave us when you were first appointed. You have therefore pleasantly surprised us. I wish you all the best."@en1
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