The Politics of Corporate Taxation in the European Union

Although minimal, the existence of a European policy regime in this area defies the conventional idea that states will never surrender their tax sovereignty to the institutions of the European Union. This study explores the formation of the European Union's tax policy and asks why member states did not raise objections to it. Claudio Radaelli's analysis is enriched by two further levels of enquiry. Firstly, he examines the 'Europeanisation' of domestic tax policy in Italy and the UK, asking how domestic policy has changed and what is meant by 'Europeanisation'. Secondly he puts the European Union tax policy in the wider context of tax globalization. Will the liberalization of capital movement, tax havens and the flexibility of multinationals in managing their taxable incomes wreck the European Union's fregile tax policies? In addressing these issues the study finds that knowledge is one of the most important resources in the European corporate tax process.;It highlights the political problems raised by the search for rules, principles and appropriate levels of tax co-ordination and concludes that the European Union should re-consider its tax policy with new arguments and new strategic perspectives.