Tax competition between EU Member States may be harmful when it results in permanent losses of government tax revenues, may also distort competition between companies in the EU's single market and can have negative impacts on other EU policy areas. The EESC is currently drawing up an own-initiative opinion that aims to formulate solutions that can help to mitigate the negative effects of tax competition and to contribute to building a fairer and more transparent European fiscal system. In order to gain further insights the EESC organised a public hearing on Wednesday, 24 May 2017, starting from 10 a.m.