Fidesz MEP Enikő Győri
“We encourage Hungary to reconsider its position on the global minimum tax”, the European Union will not give up this important work, Paolo Gentiloni, European Commissioner for Economic Policy, told the European Parliament plenary session in Brussels on Thursday.
Speaking during the parliamentary debate on the “national vetoes threatening the global tax agreement”, the Italian commissioner said that the EU directive on the introduction of a global minimum tax should be a common goal for the EU, and that it is important for the economy and society. He said that the European Commission had tried to come up with a proposal for a directive that would be appropriate for all member states, but that one member state, Hungary, had refused to support it at the last minute. He added that the Hungarian government had referred to the economic impact of the war in Ukraine when it decided not to accept the proposal, pointing out that the current situation affects all member states.
He added that a minimum tax is necessary to guarantee that giant companies pay taxes where they make their profits. The EU must listen to citizens’ demands and meet them, and that the responsibility for this lies with the Member State that opposes it,” Gentiloni stressed.
In her speech, Fidesz MEP Enikő Győri said that if a member state exercises its right under the EU treaties to stop a process that it believes is damaging Europe, it might be worth reflecting on why it is doing so. “Let’s not be our own enemy, there is a war on, we should be focusing on mitigating the damage instead of imposing new burdens,” the Fidesz MEP said. She added: the global minimum tax is a two-pillar package, the first part of which, the taxation of tech giants, has not made any progress, although the two pillars should be “completed” at the same time. International partners in Asia and America have not implemented what Europe would like to see in place, putting European firms at a competitive disadvantage, she added.
In a press release, socialist MEP István Ujhelyi pointed out that the global minimum tax would ensure that multinational companies take responsibility in proportion to their revenues in times of crisis, and would prevent the biggest multinationals from being taxed in tax havens and from illegally siphoning off their profits.
Fidesz MEP Tamás Deutsch said that even leaving aside its content, the global minimum tax and the underlying idea behind it was “scandalous”, because it shows that
the European Parliament wants to take away the right of member states to represent their national interests.
“It is outrageous that the European Parliament wants to challenge the sovereign ability of a Member State that merely wants to represent its national position. In doing so, the EP is launching a serious attack not only on the sovereign right of Member States to represent their interests, but also on the EU treaties that guarantee it. This means that the European Parliament is, for the umpteenth time, going against the principles of the rule of law”, said Tamás Deutsch.
Featured Photo: Facebook, Enikő Győri
