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AmCham EU Plenary focuses on tax competitiveness in Europe
Given the progress of the implementation of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Action Plan on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) in the EU, and ongoing discussions on digital taxation, AmCham EU's February Plenary meeting was dedicated to assessing where Europe stands in terms of tax competitiveness.
Speakers concluded that Europe remains a competitive region from a tax perspective. There was also broad agreement that the EU should promote policies aimed at fostering jobs and growth since the tax environment remains a factor in the investment decision-making process for companies.
In his keynote address, Luděk Niedermayer, Member of the European Parliament (EPP, CZ), welcomed the increased role of the EU in tax policy, praised the work done in successfully implementing the BEPS Action Plan in the EU and celebrated the commitment of the European Parliament in reaching a broad consensus in a number of key areas during this term. He also highlighted the fact that the digital taxation initiatives at EU level contributed to ongoing work at the OECD on the tax challenges of the digitalisation of the economy, stressing the importance in finding global agreement by 2020.
The event also included a panel discussion featuring:
- Matthias Bauer, Senior Economist, European Centre for International Political Economy (ECIPE);
- Larry Norton, US Treasury Representative for Europe;
- James Watson, Director of Economics, BusinessEurope;
- Moderated by Will Morris, Chair of the AmCham EU Tax Committee and Deputy Global Tax Policy Leader at PwC.
The panel analysed the implementation of the OECD BEPS Action Plan in the EU, focusing on the technical aspects of the Anti-Tax Avoidance Directive (ATAD), Public Country-by-Country Reporting (CbCR) and the Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCTB). The discussion also focused on digital taxation initiatives where all panellists emphasised the importance of finding a global consensus at the OECD to EU and global growth.
For any questions, please contact Stefano Marmo, Senior Policy Adviser (SMA@amchameu.eu).