Derk Jan Eppink MEP Speaks Out Against EU Tax Plans
MediaDerk Jan Eppink MEP Speaks Out Against EU Tax Plans
Derk Jan Eppink, MEP for Belgium and a member of the European Conservatives and Reformists Group, has hit out strenuously at plans for EU taxes, revealed today by the EU’s Tax Commissioner, Janusz Lewandowski. Mr Lewandowski told the Financial Times Deutschland that “the door is open to think about revenues that are not claimed by (national) finance ministers.” He said that the current system whereby 76 per cent of the EU’s budget is paid for by national contributions “was not the intention of the founding fathers."
But Mr Eppink, a former Commission insider whose recent books “Life of a European Mandarin" and "Bonfire of Bureaucracy in Europe” predicted calls for EU taxes earlier this year, said: “Unsurprisingly, the Commission’s main entry gate may be open to EU taxes, but I am sure ordinary taxpayer’s will close all doors and windows. No wonder the Commission launches it as its mid summer night's dream''.
Mr Lewandowski’s spokesman, Patrizio Fiorilli, told the media today that "the time is now to look into alternative sources of income for the EU budget," adding that in late September the Commissioner will set out a series of options for EU taxes, including a levy on air transport, a tax on financial transactions and the allocation of some of the funds from the planned auction of greenhouse gas emissions permits.
Mr Eppink saw the irony of the remarks. “The time is now only because the Commission is taking people by surprise when they are in the middle of their summer holidays, while tanning their bellies. It’s a well-known bureaucratic trick for announcing unwelcome things.”