HC Deb 31 October 2000 vol 355 c411W
Dr. Julian Lewis

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his policy is on tax harmonisation within the European Union. [134972]

Dawn Primarolo

The Government's approach to EU tax issues is based on fair tax competition, not tax harmonisation. At the recent Feira European Council in June, the Prime Minister and the Chancellor persuaded the EU to accept exchange of information rather than a withholding tax on cross-border savings income as the way forward. This illustrated the success of the Government's policy of constructive engagement on EU issues.