In January or February 2019, the Commission will propose abandoning the unanimity rule on some tax issues, to improve the efficiency of negotiating tax legislation. The commission is likely to propose QMV on a limited set of tax issues — for example, legislative proposals regarding tax returns.
There appear to be two opposing visions for QMV on the commission, the first one is QMV under article 116 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, which says that when the commission “finds that a difference between the provisions laid down by law, regulation, or administrative action in member states is distorting the conditions of competition in the internal market and that the resultant distortion needs to be eliminated, it shall consult the member states concerned.”
While according to the second one QMV shall be based on article 48.7 of the Treaty on the European Union (TEU), which says, “Where the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union provides for the Council to act by unanimity in a given area or case, the European Council may adopt a decision authorizing the Council to act by a qualified majority in that area or in that case.”
The article is part of dReport – November 2018, Tax news; Grants and investment Incentives.
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