Irish Government claims do not mention the whole truth on the Lisbon Treaty
Lisbon Treaty threatens Irish corporate tax despite government declarations
Wednesday, 16 April 2008
An issue that has come to the attention of the Irish public lately the declaration by France’s finance minister, Christine Lagarde, concerning a wanted common method to compute corporate taxes. Ireland’s government has dismissed fears that this can indeed happen, overlooking a certain amendment in the soon-to-be voted upon Lisbon Treaty.
This week Irish Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has stated that the Treaty protects taxation in the EU trough Article 113 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union as amended by the Lisbon Treaty. If there would be any decision to be taken on taxation on this line, the vote would have to be unanimous, he said.
However, what Mr. Ahern has not mentioned is that there is another way taxation can be altered. That way deals with the protection of the Internal Market, a paramount subject for the European Court of Justice. The Article 113 will contain a new amendment mentioning that any “distortion of competition” will have to be eliminated – this can be decided by a simple majority in the European Court or by a qualified majority in the Council of Ministers as any such decision would happen under Internal Market legislation.
Trough this article, any company can ask for the abolition of the low Irish corporation tax in front of the Court. Therefore the safety of the Irish corporate tax is not at all guaranteed by the Lisbon Treaty as Bertie Ahern would have everyone believe. We actually find that it is quite threatened by it.
EUD President Jens-Peter Bonde has recommended to the Irish Government to deal with this issue in order to find a way to protect their nation’s interests. A binding Protocol can still be implemented – yet nothing is being done.
It remains to be seen how the frantic supporters of the Lisbon Treaty in Ireland will respond to this problem.