The window of opportunity for finalising outstanding EU tax legislation is fast closing, ahead of the European Parliament elections in June this year. As readers may know, EU tax legislation is solely adopted by all 27 Member States in the Council, but the European Parliament’s non-binding opinion is nonetheless needed for any tax proposal – even if approved by the Council – to become EU law.
In the Council, a key role in negotiating, finding compromises and eventually finalising an agreement on tax legislation falls onto the country holding the famous six month rotating Council Presidency. As previously reported, that role has now fallen on Belgium which took over the rotating presidency in January and holds it until July. It is, therefore, up to Belgium to progress on key outstanding tax files in the next few months.
As is customary for rotating presidencies, Belgium has published its high-level programme of priorities outlining which pieces of legislation and which priorities it seeks in particular to advance. In another Council document, the Belgian Presidency has flagged the agendas for upcoming finance ministers’ meetings, including which files they seek to progress on. According to this document, the following finance ministerial meeting (ECOFIN) dates should be pinned down by all tax policy enthusiasts:
12 April: possible political agreement on the European Commission’s proposal for a pan-European withholding tax framework (FASTER);
14 May: possible political agreement on the VAT in the Digital Age (ViDA) proposal; and
21 June: status update on progress with the Business in Europe: Framework for Income Taxation (BEFIT), Head Office Tax system for SMEs (HOT) and transfer pricing proposals.
Naturally, just because the Belgian Presidency aims to find agreement on FASTER and ViDA on the above indicated dates does not guarantee that they will succeed. Numerous hurdles, especially with FASTER, remain. However, these dates provide more concrete indications of the timeline within which Belgium seeks to broker compromises.
The European Parliament, for its part, has already done its job. It has already produced an opinion on ViDA, and more recently concluded its work on its opinion on FASTER. That means that EU elections or not, it is now up to the EU Member States in the Council to do their part.
Home >Articles > EU watch: the Belgian Council Presidency keeps up the ambition
EU watch: the Belgian Council Presidency keeps up the ambition
The window of opportunity for finalising outstanding EU tax legislation is fast closing, ahead of the European Parliament elections in June this year. As readers may know, EU tax legislation is solely adopted by all 27 Member States in the Council, but the European Parliament’s non-binding opinion is nonetheless needed for any tax proposal – even if approved by the Council – to become EU law.
In the Council, a key role in negotiating, finding compromises and eventually finalising an agreement on tax legislation falls onto the country holding the famous six month rotating Council Presidency. As previously reported, that role has now fallen on Belgium which took over the rotating presidency in January and holds it until July. It is, therefore, up to Belgium to progress on key outstanding tax files in the next few months.
As is customary for rotating presidencies, Belgium has published its high-level programme of priorities outlining which pieces of legislation and which priorities it seeks in particular to advance. In another Council document, the Belgian Presidency has flagged the agendas for upcoming finance ministers’ meetings, including which files they seek to progress on. According to this document, the following finance ministerial meeting (ECOFIN) dates should be pinned down by all tax policy enthusiasts:
12 April: possible political agreement on the European Commission’s proposal for a pan-European withholding tax framework (FASTER);
14 May: possible political agreement on the VAT in the Digital Age (ViDA) proposal; and
21 June: status update on progress with the Business in Europe: Framework for Income Taxation (BEFIT), Head Office Tax system for SMEs (HOT) and transfer pricing proposals.
Naturally, just because the Belgian Presidency aims to find agreement on FASTER and ViDA on the above indicated dates does not guarantee that they will succeed. Numerous hurdles, especially with FASTER, remain. However, these dates provide more concrete indications of the timeline within which Belgium seeks to broker compromises.
The European Parliament, for its part, has already done its job. It has already produced an opinion on ViDA, and more recently concluded its work on its opinion on FASTER. That means that EU elections or not, it is now up to the EU Member States in the Council to do their part.
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