European Parliament, Brussels – Interparliamentary meetings of three committees were held on the first day of the European Parliamentary Week. The topic of the meeting of the European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee was the possibility of introducing a new international tax system.
As one of the keynote speakers, Grozdana Perić said that harmonizing tax policies in the area of direct taxes at EU level would significantly underpin EU’s broader goals for smart, sustainable and inclusive development.
When speaking about taxation of digital services, Darinko Kosor stressed that this was a complex international issue. –A global approach is called upon for addressing this taxation challenge, in order to avoid unilateral measures and the risk of double taxation, said Kosor. The discussion on the objectives in the segment of financial services was centred around how to address the risk to the sustainability of financial markets and how parliaments can contribute to the debate on sustainable financing with the private financial sector, especially on facilitating the financing of green transition. Addressing the topic of transparency and sustainability, Boris Lalovac said that awareness-raising is required on the importance of environmental and social aspects and their risks in the process of making decisions on investments. Božica Makar stated that additional efforts are required to avoid double taxation and to increase the efficiency of judiciary bodies.
The meeting of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs of the European Parliament, co-chaired by Gordan Maras, addressed the European Child Guarantee as a tool to fight poverty. Commission Vice-President Dubravka Šuica made her introductory remarks on social security of children and emphasized that all children are entitled to free health care, education and nutrition. Gordan Maras emphasized that the population throughout the European Union is ageing and Europe is facing negative natural population growth; investing in children is therefore our primary task. -Attention needs to be given to improving social conditions such as skills development, gender equality and measures aimed at people with disabilities, Gordan Maras added.
The meeting of the Committee on Budgets was co-chaired by Johan Van Overtveldt, Chair of the Committee on Budgets, and Damir Mateljan, Deputy Chair of the Croatian Parliament’s Committee on Regional Development and Funds of the European Union. MPs discussed how to make the EU budget under the next Multiannual Financial Framework 2021-2027 fit to address global challenges.
Domagoj Ivan Milošević stressed that the EU budget positively impacts all Members States and that Cohesion Funds, if used wisely, contribute, both directly and indirectly, to the economies of all Member States. Cohesion Funds are extremely important for achieving real convergence, especially in those Member States which are, on top of ageing population, confronted with massive outflow of young, educated and ambitious young people towards more competitive Member States. In conclusion, he said that in all discussions both eyes must be kept on the economic backbone of the EU and its Member States – the small and medium-sized enterprises. We must ensure that in the next decade the European SMEs become stronger, more innovative, more creative and more technologically advanced, and as a result more competitive.
Recapitulating the debate, Damir Mateljan stressed the importance of combining “old” and “new” policies and how this will be adequately reflected in the Multiannual Financial Framework. –It is necessary to uphold the existing levels of financing for the Cohesion Policy and the Common Agricultural Policy, funds that will continue to support convergence of less developed regions, concluded Mateljan.
