Published Tuesday, July 1, 2008 at 11:58
by
aidanosullivan
in In the spotlight (933 views and 0 comments)
With attempts to
harmonize corporate tax rates being vetoed by states like the UK
and Ireland, the EU Commission wishes to address the tax obstacles
facing companies operating across the Internal Market by
implementing a Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCTB).
The CCCTB would mean reducing the cost of working with 27
different national tax systems as they would be able to compute
their aggregate profits to a single set of tax rules. The total
EU profit would be then apportioned among the countries where the
firm is active.
It has established a Working Group to consider first its
technical definition and later details of the profit apportioning
mechanism. Commissioner Kovacs had plans to bring forward
proposals before the end of 2008, but this is now postponed due
to the Lisbon Treaty vote in Ireland. The CCCTB will be optional
and the Commission will propose its adoption under the enhanced
cooperation mechanism failing unanimous agreement.
The Case for CCCTB
The Commission believes that reform of EU corporate taxation is
crucial for achieving the goals of the Lisbon agenda and that an
efficient, transparent and simplified tax regime will improve the
functioning of the Internal Market. It believes CCCTB will
contribute to the international competitiveness...
Henning Meyer, Head of European Programme for
the Global
Policy Institute, kicked off the debate on New Social Europe in London on 11
March 2008 by warning that if certain issues aren’t currently
reflected within the debate, such as economic globalisation, they
become accepted as givens. He then put to the floor what we mean
when we talk about social Europe. There are different applications
of the social model, but there seems to be a consensus on some key
elements:
a responsive political economy
free and compulsory education
active protection of environment
robust welfare state
limitation of inequality
However, the economic layers of governance have been eroded by
globalisation. There is an increased pressure on costs. If we
debate the reform of the European social model, we need to debate
the reform of globalisation. Economic globalisation increases
within and between countries.
How can we develop a politics of international
redistribution?
Henning proposed that we needed a politics of national and
international redistribution - we need to explore a global social
politics. This includes:
reforming how we measure the gross domestic product. We need
to...
The Eurosocialists in Geneva have also sent in their
ideas for the PES manifesto - read the full document here. The group proposes the following four
objectives for the EU in the world theme:
Eliminating poverty, promoting decent work and respecting
human rights
Towards more equitable and effective taxation (at all levels)
Towards better global governance
Enhancing our security in the framework of NATO and the
European Neighbourhood Policy
Do you have any ideas to add? Leave a comment and debate with
Eurosocialists Geneva!
Published Tuesday, February 26, 2008 at 09:59
by
amandinecrespy
in New Social Europe (979 views and 1 comments)
For the French Socialist activists in Brussels, the latest news
about the global financial markets remind the necessity to master
international financial flows. The product of this law could be
used to make globalization more social.
By means of a motion submitted to activists’ signature, they want
to mobilize socialist leaders on this issue. They welcome the
commitment of some French figures as well as of PES President Poul
Nyrup Rasmussen on this matter. The European Parliament itself had
shown some will to explore the question.
As the campaign for the 2009 European elections is coming, it is
now time to take action in order to include the tax on financial
flows into the PES 2009 manifesto.
The motion was signed by French and European activists amongst whom
Michel Rocard. You can post a comment if you want to sign the
motion as well and your name will be added to the list.
read more
A roundtable debate
on the ‘Save
our planet’ manifesto theme concluded the first day of PES
Council. Here are a few opinions and impressions from the
debate:
Hans Eichel, former German Minister of Finance, and chair of the
PES Lisbon Network, encouraged the governments of the Left in
Europe to develop a coherent and realistic strategy of sustainable
development. Eichel explained that the idea of an effective green
growth policy has always been one pillar of the Lisbon Strategy,
but he underlined that with the “integrated policy guidelines” a
good instrument has now been developed for linking the different
strategies that used to be separate.
Modern environmental policies are essentially knowledge based;
without advanced technologies and innovative policies, the
necessary transition to a low carbon future might take too
long.
Herbert Schmalstieg, President of the Union of Socialist Local and
Regional Representatives in Europe, who had been Mayor of the city
of Hannover for 34 years, stressed how important citizens’
involvement is for climate change policy. He emphasised the
importance of cities – where more than 50 percent of Europe’s
population live – and outlined a number of examples how this can
be...
read more
Comme le taux d'infection VIH augmente en Europe, le Groupe Socialiste au Parlement européen lance une nouvelle campagne : "Stop au SIDA, TVA réduite sur les préservatifs !" Dans la préparation de la Journée mondiale anti-SIDA du 1er décembre, les députés socialistes européens pressent les Etats-membres de l'Union qui ne l'ont pas encore fait à appliquer immédiatement une TVA réduite à 5% sur les préservatifs.