Resoconto integrale delle discussioni

Martedì 21 maggio 2013 - Strasburgo

15. Affrontare il problema dell'imposta di successione a seguito dell'adozione del regolamento (UE) n. 650/2010 in materia di successioni (discussione)

  Der Präsident. − Als nächster Punkt der Tagesordnung folgt die Aussprache über die Erklärung der Kommission zur Behandlung der Frage der Erbschaftssteuer nach Annahme der Erbrechtsverordnung ((EU) Nr. 650/2012) (2013/2639(RSP)).

  Tonio Borg, Member of the Commission. − Mr President, the Commission is very satisfied that its Succession Regulation was adopted last year and is now part of the European Union rule book. Separate national rules on succession created a legal maze of red tape and costs through which citizens making use of the right to move had to navigate – and pay.

Having a framework for European cooperation on succession is a great achievement and a tangible concrete benefit to the life of citizens, as the Regulation simplifies processes and brings legal security to citizens. This law is just one of the many examples of how the European Union is working to resolve everyday legal problems and save money for Europeans.

Obviously the Regulation, like any new legislation that builds bridges between very different national legal systems, can raise questions of interpretation and implementation in the early days of its application. It is to minimise any such possible questions that the Commission has for some years been sponsoring projects that would help citizens to find their way in this matter. This is the case with (and I shall give examples) the interconnection of registers of wills in the Member States so as to facilitate the finding of wills across Europe.

One of the very first questions upon the death of a person is whether that person planned his or her succession or not. Finding the will is a crucial element in the start of any succession proceeding. The organisation of a transparent exchange of information is another project on national succession laws which is easy to understand for citizens. Such information is put online on a website called Successions in Europe.

In addition, since the adoption of the Regulation, the Commission has put a lot of effort into ensuring the smooth application of the Regulation. For instance, last year we awarded EUR 1 million for an action grant to the Council of the Notariats of the European Union, and thanks to this two-year project, 14 training courses are taking place to provide solid training to over 2 000 European notaries.

We are also working on a standard form for the European Certificate of Succession, and the goal is to adopt the implementing regulation by the end of 2013. The European Judicial Network in Civil and Commercial Matters, the so-called EJN, has started to prepare the publication of information on national legislations and procedures on the e-Justice portal, and this will benefit citizens and their legal representatives.

We are also launching a study to examine the need for a legal instrument on electronic registers of wills and of European Certificates of Succession at national level and ensuring the interoperability of such registers between Member States. The Succession Regulation does not concern taxation. The way in which inheritance tax or its equivalent is assessed and calculated across the European Union is very different. In certain situations the heirs only receive a very small part of their inheritance after it has been doubly or triply taxed by several Member States. In extreme cases the total value of a cross-border inherited asset might even have to be paid in tax. This is because several Member States may claim taxing rights on the same inheritance or tax foreign inheritance more heavily...

(The President interrupted the speaker).

  Tonio Borg, Member of the Commission. − Mr President, in extreme cases the total value of a cross-border inherited asset might even have to be paid in tax. This is because several Member States may claim taxing rights on the same inheritance or may tax foreign inheritances more heavily than local inheritances. As a result, citizens may be forced to sell inherited assets just to cover the taxes, and small businesses may face transfer difficulties on the death of their owners. Inheritance tax can therefore give rise to obstacles that deter Europeans from exercising their rights across borders within the European Union.

Discriminatory taxation can also become an artificial disincentive to further investment across the single market in otherwise viable businesses. Because of the fear of leaving huge inheritance tax and legal bills for their family members, business owners may consider investment-reducing alternatives such as liquidation, down-sizing or retirement from their cross-border investments. This is because they may not see the value in maintaining such highly taxable investments.

It was to tackle these problems that, on 15 December 2011, the Commission adopted a recommendation on how Member States could eliminate double taxation of inheritances. On the same occasion the Commission provided guidance to the Member States on how to ensure that cross-border inheritance tax rules do not involve discrimination.

The objective is very simple: to take action to tackle cross-border inheritance tax obstacles across the European Union and resolve cases of double taxation. The aim is to ensure that the overall level of tax on a given inheritance is not higher than the level that would apply if only one Member State had tax jurisdiction over the inheritance. The recommendation calls on Member States to grant tax relief when applying inheritance taxes and to improve the cooperation of tax authorities to assist taxpayers subject to double taxation.

The Commission will report on the state of play of Member States’ provisions for relief for double taxation of inheritances next year. If the report demonstrates that cross-border inheritance tax problems persist, the Commission will consider all the different options, including the need to take appropriate legislative action to eliminate those obstacles.

Finally, in the meantime, the Commission would like to use today’s debate to call on the Member States to step up their cooperation and put the Commission recommendation in place.

  Tadeusz Zwiefka, w imieniu grupy PPE. – Panie Przewodniczący! Szanowny Panie Komisarzu! Rozporządzenie regulujące przepisy w obszarze transgranicznych spraw spadkowych bez wątpienia możemy uznać za jedno z większych osiągnięć w tej kadencji Parlamentu Europejskiego. Wymagało ono wielkiego nakładu pracy, tematyka była niezwykle złożona, a potrzeba rozwiązania – ogromna. Nie ma chyba potrzeby po raz kolejny podkreślać znaczenia, jakie rozwiązania te będą miały dla obywateli, którzy znaleźli się w trudnej sytuacji życiowej po stracie najbliższych, ale także, nie ukrywajmy tego, w trudnej sytuacji prawnej. Przepisy te dają możliwość wyboru prawa właściwego do całej masy spadkowej i ustalają nowe normy kolizyjne w przypadku niedokonania takiego wyboru.

Jednakże – podkreślam to zawsze z całą mocą – by przepisy te były skuteczne, muszą być znane obywatelom. Jest to warunek skuteczności działania każdego prawa. Musimy jednak przyznać, że przepisy spadkowe są dość zawiłe nawet dla prawników. Oczywiście można powiedzieć, że materia jest skomplikowana, ale to nie zwalnia nas z konieczności szukania o wiele bardziej klarownych rozwiązań w międzynarodowym postępowaniu spadkowym.

Pojawiają się też pytania związane z praktycznym stosowaniem niektórych rozwiązań, w szczególności w obszarze, który jest wyłączony z zakresu stosowania rozporządzenia, czyli we wspomnianej przez Pana Komisarza kwestii podwójnego czy też wielokrotnego opodatkowania. Jest to niewątpliwie prawny i finansowy problem dla obywateli. Cieszą mnie zatem słowa Pana Komisarza, który zapewnił, że ten istotny problem został przez Komisję zauważony i będą podejmowane kolejne kroki w celu usunięcia trudności. Jeśli unijne przepisy mają rzeczywiście przyczyniać się do uproszczenia procedur spadkowych, obywatele muszą mieć pewność, jak z tego prawa korzystać i jakie są tego konsekwencje, jeszcze przed wejściem w życie nowych przepisów dotyczących spadków transgranicznych.

  Luigi Berlinguer, a nome del gruppo S&D. – Signor Presidente, onorevoli colleghi, signor Commissario, io considero il regolamento sulle successioni una delle cose più belle che ha fatto questa legislatura.

Il tema può sembrare lontano, ostico, invece è un tema che ha toccato la vita dei cittadini in quanto cittadini europei. Ci sono 450 mila fatti ogni anno in cui le famiglie si trovano a dover fronteggiare una successione internazionale e 120 miliardi di euro che si trasferiscono. I numeri sono rilevanti e i cittadini che hanno rapporti con diversi Stati membri rappresentano anch'essi una questione rilevante. Abbiamo definito qual è la legge applicabile in questo caso.

Perché è importante la discussione che abbiamo sollecitato noi alla quale il Commissario ha cominciato a dare una risposta? Perché se non si affronta il problema della doppia imposizione, il problema fiscale, ciò può nuocere seriamente all'efficacia di quella legge. Quindi ci muoviamo anche nell'ottica di quanto abbiamo appena discusso a proposito di Stoccolma, e cioè che il processo di creazione di un'area europea deve andare passo dopo passo verificando quali sono le strozzature, i colli di bottiglia e quale invece deve essere l'azione successiva, perché ciò che si produce come norma diventi vita quotidiana.

Quindi io vorrei raccomandare ancora con più energia che la doppia imposizione venga superata, che la raccomandazione del 2011 abbia un'effettiva e sostanziale applicazione e che questa legge quindi diventi realtà, per incidere nella vita pratica dei cittadini.

Lasciatemi fare una considerazione finale, con Tadeusz Zwiefka, Cecilia Wikström, Evelyn Regner, che sono i miei colleghi della commissione JURI, come vede signor Presidente, noi non amiamo la pubblicità e che i giornali parlino del nostro lavoro, perché il giurista un po' opera nell'ombra ed è uno strano operatore o parlamentare europeo. Eppure noi abbiamo messo una grande passione nel fare questo e nella giornata odierna questa passione ci ha anche molto gratificato.

  Cecilia Wikström, för ALDE-gruppen. – Herr talman! Under den här mandatperioden är vi många som arbetat mycket hårt för att få plats med en förordning om arv, som jag är övertygad om kommer att underlätta vid transnationella arvstvister. Det är också glädjande att ni, herr kommissionär, verkar övertygad om att det här är en fråga som ni vill ta tag i, till skillnad mot förra ärendet vi diskuterade.

Det här är viktigt – det handlar om i vilket land ett arv ska beskattas när flera länder berörs, och det här måste snart lösas, för medborgare kontaktar oss hela tiden för att de hamnar i lägen där de får motstridiga besked i olika länder när det gäller egendom, t.ex. fastigheter och beskattningen av dessa.

Naturligtvis är skattefrågor medlemsstaternas kompetens och det är rimligt att medlemsstaterna också utformar sina system med arvsskatt, men det är också orimligt att våra medborgare utsätts för dubbel beskattning i fall där arv involverar flera medlemsstater. Man måste kunna förvänta sig enkla, tydliga rättsliga system där man vet vilka regler som gäller om man inte måste betala samma skatt två gånger.

Jag vill nu fråga kommissionen vilka initiativ som ni tänker ta för att undersöka och arbeta vidare med den här viktiga frågan. Det är nu som vi måste hjälpa våra medlemsstater i arbetet med att hitta gemensamma lösningar för att bringa klarhet för medborgarna i de här frågorna, och med det tackar jag för mig.

  Sebastian Valentin Bodu (PPE). - Mr President, in recent years the mobility of people within the European Union has created major problems, such as the settlement of cross-border inheritances, that may accelerate in the coming years. Citizens own estates in different Member States. That ownership triggers the application of multiple inheritance laws and creates conflicts of law.

I consider that having a framework for European cooperation on succession is an accomplishment that brings legal security to all European citizens. The Successions Regulation retains the principle of one law applicable to succession by determining the deceased’s habitual residence.

Although the regulation does not deal with taxation, I believe that having only one law applying to your estate will provide an opportunity with regard to previously unavailable tax planning. The Commission Recommendation of 15 December 2011 regarding the elimination of double taxation of inheritances is a good step in this direction, and I will wait for the report in 2014 to see what the Commission decision on this matter will be.

A solution would probably be to have the certificate of avoiding double taxation apply in this matter of inheritance as well.

  Evelyn Regner (S&D). - Herr Präsident, sehr geehrter Herr Kommissar! Mit der EU-Erbrechtsverordnung haben wir ein Stück europäische Gesetzgebung, das direkt das Leben von vielen Bürgerinnen und Bürgern betreffen kann.

Und wenn wir jetzt in diesem Zusammenhang das Thema Doppelbesteuerung angehen, ist das natürlich auch gesellschaftspolitisch von großer Bedeutung. 9 Millionen Europäerinnen und Europäer sind potenziell betroffen – nämlich jene, die nicht in dem Land leben, dem sie angehören. Und sie stehen jetzt eben vor dieser Rechtswahl: Erblasser können sich jetzt aussuchen: jenes Land, dem sie angehören, oder jenes, in dem sie zum Schluss leben, bevor sie versterben.

Fragen, wie mit Besteuerung umgegangen wird, ergeben sich bei vielen europäischen Rechtsakten mit Empfehlungen, also Soft Law. Daher meine Frage an Sie: Hat die Kommission bereits den Dialog mit den Mitgliedstaaten gesucht, um eine langfristige Lösung bei drohender Doppelbesteuerung ebenso wie bei Steuerumgehung durch Schließen von Lücken zu suchen? Und schließlich ist selbst hier potenziell die bewusste Umgehung von Steuern möglich. Befürchtet die Kommission, dass einige Erblasser mit mehreren Staatsangehörigkeiten bewusst die Rechtswahl zugunsten von Mitgliedstaaten treffen, die gar keine Erbschaftssteuer nach ihrem nationalen Recht erheben? Das scheint natürlich recht an den Haaren herbeigezogen zu sein, aber ich denke mir, auch diese Themen sollten wir – gerade um Umgehungen zu vermeiden – anpacken.

Catch-the-eye-Verfahren

  Elena Băsescu (PPE). - Problema certificatelor de moştenitor a fost parţial rezolvată de adoptarea Regulamentului 650/ 2012, însă continuă să fie semnalate dificultăţi în ceea ce priveşte nivelul diferit de taxare pentru moştenitori şi dubla impozitare. Aceste probleme nu sunt noi, ci au fost abordate inclusiv în Comisia pentru petiţii, unde ocup funcţia de vicepreşedinte.

Cred că, începând cu anul 2015, când va intra în vigoare Regulamentul privind certificatul european de moştenitor, aspectele legate de impozitare vor trebui armonizate. De aceea, ar fi nevoie de un act legislativ, şi nu doar de o recomandare, privind evitarea dublei impozitări a moştenitorilor. Astfel, s-ar elimina incertitudinea juridică şi s-ar crea un cadru unic la nivel european în domeniu. Totodată, adoptarea unui act legislativ ar fi un pas înspre crearea unui spaţiu de libertate, securitate şi justiţie.

(Ende des Catch-the-eye-Verfahrens)

  Tonio Borg, Member of the Commission. − Mr President, I believe it was Benjamin Franklin who in 1789 said that there is nothing in life more certain than death and taxes. Here we are dealing with succession taxes, which deal with both death and with taxes. I would like to answer the question put by Ms Wikström on which states will tax property.

The recommendation does not deal with this question, except to state that the global amount of inheritance tax should not exceed what the tax would have been had only one single Member State been responsible for collecting the tax. The aim is to ensure that the overall level of tax on a given inheritance is not higher than the level that would apply if only one Member State had tax jurisdiction over the inheritance. In layman’s terms this means that, provided the global amount of tax does not exceed what death tax would have been if only one Member State were responsible for collecting it, it could be collected by three different Member States. So we did not interfere as a Commission in how many Member States should collect, the tax but the global amount of the tax should not exceed the tax applicable in one Member State.

Unfortunately, as we have seen (and I thank the Members of Parliament for their remarks), when you put together the two things which I mentioned – death and taxes – a huge number of legal problems arise. Visiting the funeral house and multiple tax offices on the same day is not a pleasant experience, and the burden of cross-border inheritance tax can be crippling for citizens, owing to discrimination and double taxation. So small changes in Member States’ rules to make them more coherent with each other could deliver real benefits for hundreds of thousands of European citizens across Europe.

The plan now is to see how the recommendation has been implemented in the different Member States. I am authorised by Commissioner Reding to state that, if it turns out that these recommendations are not being implemented, we could pass on to the second stage of making legislative proposals. This could be of benefit to hundreds of thousands of European citizens across Europe.

This is what we aim to achieve. I hope the authorities in the Member States make use of this year – the European Year of Citizens – as so many of you have remarked, to take steps in this area to improve the life of citizens at a particular sad moment in their lives.

  Der Präsident. − Die Aussprache ist geschlossen.