HC Deb 29 October 2003 vol 412 c250W
Mr. Redwood

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans the EU has for the harmonisation of company tax within the EU. [134319]

Dawn Primarolo

The Government's view is that fair tax competition is the way forward for Europe, not proposals for tax harmonisation. The Government will not support any action at European level that will threaten jobs or the competitive position of British business.

Mr. Redwood

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans the EU has to combat(a) fraud and (b) evasion in company taxes. [134318]

Dawn Primarolo

The ED is considering a draft proposal to amend and update the Directive on Mutual Assistance (77/799/EEC), the objective of which is to improve the functioning of procedures so as to enable Member States to deal more effectively with cross-border tax evasion and avoidance. I submitted an Explanatory Memorandum to the European Scrutiny Committee on 10 September 2003.

Mr. Redwood

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, (1) how he defines administrative co-operation in the draft EU constitution Article III-63 on company taxation; [134308]

(2) how he defines combating tax fraud and tax evasion in Article III—63 of the draft EU Constitution. [134320]

Dawn Primarolo

The draft EU Constitutional Treaty proposed by the Convention on the Future of Europe does not contain definitions of these terms. Any changes to the provisions of the existing EU Treaties, including those in Article HI-63 of the draft Treaty, require the unanimous agreement of all Member States. The Government has made it clear in its White Paper "The British Approach to the European Union Intergovernmental Conference 2003" that it will insist that tax matters continue to be decided by unanimity.