A favourable tax system for fair competition and growth

Tax competition between EU Member States may be harmful when it results in permanent losses of government tax revenues to the detriment, for example, of public investment and the provision of essential services. Tax competition between Member States may also distort competition between companies in the EU's single market and can have negative impacts on other EU policy areas, such as cohesion policy, by reducing the necessary financial resources for Member States to co-finance programmes supported by EU Structural Funds.

Against this background, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) has decided to draw up an 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 the framework of the preparation of this opinion, the Section for Economic and Monetary Union and Economic and Social Cohesion (ECO) organised a public hearing on Wednesday, 24 May 2017, at the EESC premises, starting from 10 a.m. The objective of the hearing is to gain contributions and insights on this topic from various stakeholders and expert, with a view to channelling these findings into the EESC opinion.