The External Tax Strategy of the EU in a Post-BEPS Environment

The book examines the configuration of the EUs external tax policy, commenting on where it should be reconsidered and on specific situations of select trading partners.

Why This Book?

Recent developments in tax policy within the European Union and at the international level (i.e. BEPS Actions and the BEPS implementation process) have made it relevant to analyse how the European Union interacts in tax terms with other relevant international tax actors (i.e. the OECD and third countries). The European Union has tried to define its own standards of good tax governance, which are not completely equal to those of the OECD, and is trying to export those standards to third countries. Like its internal tax policy, the external policy is more inclined to protect Member States’ tax bases and their competitive position than to promote single or free market values, which may contradict some of the free trade and fundamental goals the European Union sought to protect. In this field, recent developments in the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union also need to be taken into account and may exert a very relevant influence on the formulation of the external tax policy, up to the point at which a change in direction may be needed.

Within this context, the book explores the configuration of the external tax policy of the European Union, including (i) what the differences or similarities are with international standards already defined at the international level; (ii) where there may be problems in terms of interaction with those standards or with EU law principles; and even (iii) whether the European Union is behaving in a protectionist manner in tax terms. It also offers input on areas in which the external tax policy of the European Union should be reconsidered, as well as on the specific situations of some of its main trading partners (e.g. the United Kingdom and the Brexit process or the United States in the context of its tax reform).

This publication seeks to stimulate debate among scholars, policymakers, practitioners and politicians from the European Union and third countries in a field that still needs further debate and a solid reconsideration of its foundations.