European tax havens

5.4.2017

Question for written answer E-002542-17
to the Commission
Rule 130
Angelo Ciocca (ENF)

Taxes on company profits in the EU are imbalanced and creating great competition between Member States.

Leading multinationals can establish themselves in countries which provide more favourable tax conditions; those countries have an increasing tendency to apply tax relief, in order to be able to attract foreign capital.

In Italy, corporate tax rates are among the highest in the world — over 64%, compared with 20% in Luxembourg, 24.5% in Cyprus and 26% in Ireland.

The European Union, through the European Economic and Social Committee, has decided to combat tax havens outside its borders, forgetting, however, its internal ones.

The cost of this is being borne by public companies, taxpayers, small businesses and workers, who do not have the financial capacity of the large multinationals to be able to relocate to cost-efficient countries.

Can the Commission say what rules are protecting this unfair competition within the EU, in order to counter relocation from — and the industrial desertification of — countries with high rates of taxation?