Irma Mosquera Valderrama speaks at at the European Parliament
The European Parliament’s newly created Subcommittee on Tax Matters held a public hearing on the EU’s work on harmful tax practices on 1 December 2020.
Harmful tax practices are, among others, laws and administrative practices of a country that facilitate the erosion of other countries' tax bases. In the hearing, the Subcommittee's members sought input from Associate Professor Irma Mosquera Valderrama alongside four other experts, among them former EU Commissioner and Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti.
Both effectiveness and legitimacy of the EU's approach on harmful tax practices have been subject to discussions in the past, especially since the EU started demanding certain tax reforms from third countries in the context of negotiations about trade agreements and development aid.
At the hearing, Dr Mosquera Valderrama highlighted that some developing countries face difficulties in complying with the EU's exigencies. At times, EU standards may diverge from standards put forward by other international institutions. Hence, she recommended that the EU institutions establish a clearer and more inclusive way of communicating with developing countries affected by the EU’s standards.
The recording of the meeting as well as the experts’ statements can be found here.
The development of tax standards and their impact on both developed and developing countries in the developed and the developing world are the main focus of the ERC-funded GLOBTAXGOV project at Leiden University, which is led by Dr Mosquera Valderrama.