Tax Policy Challenges in EU Countries: A Few Lessons from the 2012 Commission Tax Reform Report and the European Semester

The 2012 Commission Tax Reform Report and the 2013 European Semester point to a series of challenges affecting tax policy in EU Member States in the context of fiscal consolidation. These concern the potential need and scope for consolidating public finance on the revenue side and rationalising the tax system by shifting tax away from labour to least growth-detrimental bases, broadening tax bases, improving tax design and enhancing tax governance. Only a few countries are not affected by at least one of these issues, which call for an ambitious and resolute reform effort, also paying attention to the redistributive effects. This complements actions improving the global tax governance.