Reacting to the European Commission’s communication on Savings and Investments Union reform presented today, Ludovic Voet, ETUC Confederal Secretary, said:
“This proposal socialises the risks, to the detriment of workers and taxpayers.
“Encouraging people to get more pension funds products driven by financial markets would expose people to market volatility.
“Working people haven’t forgotten the consequences of greater liberalisation of the financial markets.
The European Commission recently published its long-awaited BEFIT (Business in Europe: Framework for Income Taxation) proposal for the taxation of large multinational companies.
It follows a long-term effort to introduce group taxation with a formula for allocating taxable profits where value is created (in terms of payroll, number of employees, assets). This was the intended objective of the CCTB and CCCTB proposals, which have now been withdrawn from the European agenda.
The ETUC expresses its concern at the lack of progress on the adoption of a minimum level of taxation, which is another illustration of the need to get rid of the unanimity requirement in Council.
The ETUC has welcomed the EU proposal as a timid but important first step in reducing the most damaging corporate tax practices in the EU. In addition to depleted public budgets, we underline the disastrous impact of corporate tax avoidance on employment. Hiding corporate profits in tax havens stands in the way of fair wages and sustainable business.
