Nieuwe onderzoekscommissie ingesteld voor harmonisatie vennootschaps-belastingen (en)

EU finance ministers have agreed to look at ways of harmonising the method of calculating company taxes in Europe despite opposition from five member states.

A working group will be established to investigate the harmonisation of corporate tax bases, it was announced on Saturday (12 September) during the ministerial meeting in Scheveningen, near the Hague.

But some believe that a harmonisation of tax bases is the first step towards harmonising the rates that companies are charged throughout the EU - a system opposed by both the Commission and the UK but supported by France and Germany.

German finance minister Hans Eichel welcomed the move as a step towards corporate tax harmonisation.

"The first step is harmonising the tax base and then we can talk sensibly over a minimum rate", he said according to Reuters.

UK finance minister Gordon Brown however, said that he "would not support any move towards tax harmonisation", adding, "There is no need for it and it is certainly not a priority. Economic reform is a priority".

Any changes to EU tax law have to be agreed unanimously.

Pioneer group

If the study by the expert working group shows that a harmonised system of tax bases could work, then several countries might forge ahead of the rest in a so-called "pioneer group".

And a source in the Commission told the Reuters news agency that France, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Spain, Italy, Denmark, Sweden, Austria and possibly Poland and the Czech Republic could be ready to introduce the plan if it proves feasible.

Fiscal dumping

France's finance minister Nicolas Sarkozy received little support at the meeting for his plan to stop EU structural funds going to countries with low corporate tax rates.

Even Germany - which has supported this initiative in the past - appeared to have deserted Mr Sarkozy, who defiantly asserted, "I don't mind being alone and right", according to the FT.

His theory - that countries that can afford a low rate of company tax do not need EU subsidies - was dismissed as "absurd" by the Slovakian finance minister.