Joint statement from the Minister for Economy and Business, Nadia Calviño, and the French Minister for Economy and Finance, Bruno Le Maire

2018.9.4

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As regards the Economic and Monetary Union, the two ministers insisted on the need to firm up, before the end of the year, the guidelines given by the Heads of State and Government at June's Eurozone Summit. The Eurozone has been significantly strengthened since the crisis, but more developments are necessary to ensure its stability and convert it into a space for prosperity, growth and job creation for all its citizens. The issues being debated at a European level must lead to concrete operational decisions at the Eurozone Summit in December:

  • Culmination of the Banking Union through the creation of the backstop of the Single Resolution Fund and the perspective of the European Deposit Insurance Scheme. It would also be worthwhile to explore solutions to ensure the flow of liquidity to banks following an institution's resolution.
  • Strengthening the European Stability Mechanism.
  • Creation of a European stabilisation capability and convergence to complement national budgetary policies through the establishment of a Eurozone Budget and a common unemployment insurance fund.

Both ministers expressed their wish to contribute constructively through specific proposals to the ongoing debates in the Eurogroup and shared their support for the Presidency in its efforts to find effective solutions. To achieve that, cooperation and exchanges between their two ministerial departments must be stepped up in the coming months.

The two ministers agreed on the priority of addressing the challenges raised by the taxation of the digital economy. Our respective citizens are calling for fair and effective taxation. To ensure that, the ministers reiterated their determination to back the adoption by the ECOFIN Council, before the end of 2018, of the proposal made by the European Commission to introduce a tax on digital services and expressed their support for the Austrian Presidency of the European Union in the upcoming discussions on this matter. They recalled that this intermediary solution goes hand-in-hand with their shared determination to find a lasting solution to these issues at an international level and that, to achieve that, it is necessary to step up work through the OECD.

Aside from taxation of the digital economy, the two ministers agreed on the importance of making swift progress on the harmonisation of the taxable base of corporate income tax in Europe. On this matter, the Austrian Presidency will also be able to count on the determination of France and Spain to support the adoption of the CCCTB Directive, which will allow the simplification of the life of companies and reduce their costs, particularly those of SMEs.

Non official translation