Brown Urges Europe To Reject Moves Towards Tax Harmonisation

by Ulrika Lomas, Tax-News.com, Brussels

17 October 2003

In an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal on Thursday, UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown reiterated the British government's hard line stance towards the EU Constitution and firmly rejected the argument for European Union tax harmonisation.

Writing ahead of a summit between European ministers this week where the new Constitution will be discussed, Brown urges Europe to "conclusively rule out tax harmonization, agree it is a barrier rather than spur to global competitiveness, and resolve that tax competition is the basis on which Europe can compete with the rest of the world as well as command popular support."

Going somewhat further than his cabinet colleagues may have liked, Mr Brown also roundly rejected any move towards "a federal fiscal policy" espousing a more liberal economic agenda and a "strong trans-Atlantic economic partnership" with the US, at the same time as attacking the economic policies that have led to recession and unemployment in a large swathe of the eurozone.

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