Wopke Hoekstra, the Commissioner responsible for taxation, addressed the European Parliament’s tax matters subcommittee for the first time since taking office. He emphasised that his main priorities include simplifying and strengthening the EU’s tax laws to prevent fraud, reforming VAT rules, promoting renewable energy through tax policy, and better addressing the tax gap.
Mr Hoekstra described the United States’ unilateral withdrawal from the agreement on a minimum global multinational tax as “regrettable”. Still, he asserted that the “EU should not deviate from its course of implementing the agreement.”
Many Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) inquired about how the EU should engage with the US regarding various taxation issues. The Commissioner reiterated that the EU must stand by its positions based on solid arguments and engage in constructive dialogue with the Donald Trump administration while being prepared to defend European companies.
“We want to avoid trade wars, but we will not sit idle if the US takes actions that harm us,” Mr. Hoekstra summarised.
MEPs also sought clarification on the “28th regime” proposed by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in January, particularly regarding which companies might be affected. They requested Commissioner Hoekstra to reaffirm his commitment to a digital services tax and the review of the anti-tax avoidance directive. Additionally, questions arose about the timelines for reviewing the energy taxation directive and the tobacco directive, as well as the challenges of establishing a billionaire tax and creating a tax framework for the financial sector.
