The European Union Constitution and the development of tax policy

Abstract

Taxation is an area of European Union (EU) policy in which the tension between subsidiarity and coordination is acute. This paper reviews recent EU policy alongside an analysis of the underlying economic issues. The governance of tax policy was one of the key issues that the proposed constitution for the EU was intended to resolve. The provisions of the constitution that was proposed in 2004 are assessed to determine whether they provided the powers that the EU requires to ensure efficiency. The changes proposed by the constitution are then compared to subsequent developments.