The Ruding Committee Report: an economic assessment

The Ruding Committee began work in January 1991 on three questions posed by the European Commission: (1) Do differences in business taxation among Member States cause major distortions in the functioning of the internal market, particularly with respect to investment decisions and competition? (2) In so far as such distortions do arise, are they likely to be alleviated or eliminated simply through the interplay of market forces and competition between national tax regimes, or is action at the Community level required? (3) What specific measures are required at the Comminity level to remove or mitigate these distortions?