Nadia Calviño, Minister of Economy and Business of Spain, and Bruno Le Maire, Minister of Economy and Finance of France, met today in Paris to discuss economic and financial issues of common interest and discuss their priorities for the European Union and the Euro zone.
Regarding the Economic and Monetary Union, the two ministers have insisted on the need to specify, by the end of the year, the guidelines given by the heads of state and government at the summit of the euro zone in June. The euro zone has been significantly strengthened since the crisis, but it is still necessary to evolve to ensure its stability and turn it into a space of prosperity, growth and employment for all its citizens. The issues that are being debated at European level should lead to concrete and operational decisions at the December Eurozone summit:
- Completion of the Banking Union with the creation of the backstop of the Single Resolution Fund and the perspective of the European Deposit Guarantee System. It is also worth exploring solutions to ensure the flow of liquidity to banks after a resolution.
- Strengthening of the European Stability Mechanism.
- Creation of a European stabilization and convergence capacity in addition to national budgetary policies, through the establishment of a euro zone budget and a common unemployment insurance fund.
Each of the ministers has expressed their willingness to contribute constructively and with concrete proposals to the debates opened at the Eurogroup and have shared their support for the Presidency for their efforts in the search for effective solutions. For this, cooperation and exchanges between the two Ministries should intensify in the coming months.
The two ministers share the priority of addressing the challenges posed by the taxation of the digital economy. Our fellow citizens ask for fair and effective taxation. Therefore, the ministers have reiterated their determination to support the adoption by the ECOFIN council, before the end of 2018, of the proposal of the European Commission for the tax on digital services and have expressed their support for the Austrian Presidency of the European Union in the discussions to come on this subject. They recalled that this intermediate solution is linked to their common determination to reach a perennial solution on these issues at the international level and that for this we must intensify the work within the OECD.
Beyond the taxation of the digital economy, the two ministers agree on the importance of making rapid progress on the harmonization of the corporate tax base in Europe. On this issue, the Austrian Presidency may also count on the determination of France and Spain to support the adoption of the ACIS directive that will simplify the life of companies and reduce their costs, particularly for SMEs.
