France To Oppose UK's Stance On National Veto

by Ulrika Lomas, Tax-News.com, Brussels

28 October 2003

In an interview with EUpolitix.com, Pascal Andreani, European Affairs Advisor to French Prime Minister Jean Pierre Raffarin, has called on EU member states not to unravel the European Constitution, and said France will challenge Britain’s position of maintaining a national veto in taxation matters.

Andreani spoke of how measures in the current constitutional draft that will prevent cross border tax fraud may be put in jeopardy by Britain’s opposition to relinquishing its national veto on tax issues, citing the White Paper released last month which stated “we will insist that unanimity remain” in areas “of vital national interest such as tax.”

Andreani indicated that France would like to see an extension of qualified majority voting on social and fiscal matters, although she admitted that this will not be possible due to the opposition of some countries, “most notably Great Britain”.

However, at the Inter-Governmental Conference earlier this month, British Foreign Minister Jack Straw hinted that the UK may be prepared to compromise on matters of tax evasion, announcing that: "We want to make sure that the whole of the relevant article, with the exception of some, possible, details related to cross-border fraud, is covered by unanimity."

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