The spectre of tax harmonisation
Europe's citizens, generally speaking, do not want their taxes set by Brussels. Taxation and representation still go hand in hand. So it is safe to assume that so long as people continue to look to their national governments to represent their interests (and turn out to vote for their national politicians in greater numbers than for MEPs), they will reject the notion of taxation policies being decided at European Union level. Before the launch of the euro the tax harmonisation issue was of peripheral interest, seemingly confined to discussions of the single market.
Kitty Ussher was the economist at the CER.
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