EU LEADERS will continue to discuss the Greek debt crisis at their summit in Brussels today, as Ireland continues to seek support for its own bailout rate cut.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny met with French President Nicolas Sarkozy for brief talks last night to discuss the issue.
France appears to be the last major opponent to a cut in Ireland’s bailout rate, after Germany changed its position and supported the move. It is hoped the issue can be resolved before Christine Lagarde, the French finance minister, leaves Paris if she is offered the IMF directorship.
RTÉ reports that it is thought that the focus has shifted from Ireland’s low corporate tax rate to the introduction of an EU-wide Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCTB). Under this tax base plan, multinationals who have more than one base in Europe would make one consolidated tax return, instead of one per member state in which they’re based.
Last month, a Dáil Select Committee said the that CCCTB violates the EU’s subsidiarity principle, but Minister of State Brian Hayes said that the government would continue to engage in EU negotiations on tax issues for so long as unanimity is required for taxation matters.
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