EESC suggests innovative revenue streams for the EU budget

The EESC provided its policy recommendations for a new generation of own resources for the EU budget. In a new opinion, the Committee urges the Commission to further develop the Framework for Income Taxation (BEFIT) and suggests considering an EU-wide tax on digital transactions and a levy targeting companies which import products from third-country manufacturers that do not ensure proper protection of workers.

Revenue sources for the EU budget need to be rethought in the context of post-pandemic budgetary pressures faced by Member States, the ongoing international tensions and the current higher interest rate environment.

"We advocate for a strong EU budget, providing the EU with the necessary financial means to achieve its political ambitions, and for moving to more genuine own resources that would help steer us away from the focus on net balances, which is detrimental to European integration", rapporteur Philip von Brockdorff commented during the opinion adoption in plenary. A Commission proposal for an adjusted set of own resources, based on corporate taxation and released on 20 June 2023, completed the three other proposals for new sources of revenue that were presented in 2021 but have not yet been adopted by the Council.

As a prerequisite to proposing an own resource based on corporate taxation, the EESC urges the Commission to develop the Business in Europe: Framework for Income Taxation (BEFIT) tool as soon as possible. The Committee also deems it reasonable to explore the possibility of including financial services in BEFIT or of working on a global financial transaction tax (FTT) as proposed by the European Parliament. Further to this, the EESC asks the Commission to consider an additional levy targeting EU companies importing products from third-country manufacturers that do not ensure proper protection of workers. (tk)