The EU as a Tax Harmonisation Catalyser – Triumphs and Challenges within an Asymmetric Cooperation Model 

Abstract

This paper critically analyses the taxation chapter in the book 70 Years of EU Law. A Union for its Citizens (2023), edited by the Legal Service of the EU Commission. The said chapter offers a particularly clear account of the incidence of the fundamental freedoms, as interpreted by the ECJ, vis-à-vis the internal legislation of the Member States impacting income taxation of individuals. Its approach fits the overall design of the book, which emphasises how EU Law positively impacts European citizens’ everyday lives, in line with an output legitimacy reading of European integration. Yet, its scope is markedly narrow. In order to complement its views, this paper expands on the topics addressed in two directions. First, in line with said output legitimacy, it highlights the major achievements EU Law has reached in matters such as taxes on consumption, customs, and corporate taxation. Second, it offers an account of the underlying tensions that explain the current asymmetrical integration model of EU Tax Law and the policy issues it raises from a double perspective, namely the over-reliance on the Court of Justice to further (negative) harmonisation and the issues that the unanimity requirement poses in taxation matters.

Keywords: European Union, European Commission Legal Services, tax harmonization, income taxation, indirect taxation, tax competition, tax policy, unanimity.

JEL Classification: H20, H87, F23, F63, K33, K34