As David Cameron continues his tour of European capitals, the EU cannot help but send out terrible signals to the British electorate.
Since the general election result, you might assume Brussels would try to smother us with positive visions of “reform”, or at least admit they overreached their mandate in a number of areas. The EU interferes in business regulation, trade, foreign policy, immigration, and our sovereignty. Now the EU wants to interfere with our tax rates.
The Daily Express reports: “Officials in Paris and Berlin have drawn up plans for a minimum Corporation tax levy across all 28 EU member nations.”
Get Britain Out is quoted in the report, saying:
“Brussels imposing a common Corporation tax will be the most brazen power grab we have witnessed. This is using the EU to undercut competitive countries like Britain. The outcome will be to reduce our competitiveness in global trade. Jobs will be lost and wages reduced. It is a policy based on resentment of Britain’s economic performance. It sets a terrifying precedent when decisions about our tax rates are made by faceless bureaucrats in Brussels instead of elected officials in Westminster.”
Our campaign has already reported the EU was planning a common Corporation tax back in March, as reported in Breitbart London:
“Overriding a country’s ability to independently raise a tax base does not only erode our autonomy, but assumes that coercion is better than competition and transparency. A uniform rate across the continent simply puts us at a disadvantage.”
The political objection is quite obvious, reducing a government’s ability to raise tax independently is a keystone of a sovereign nation. Drawing up such powers on a pan-European level hands more power to Brussels. However, power grabs like this are to be expected from Brussels, and the public are no longer surprised by such brazen demands.
The UK currently enjoys a corporate tax rate of 20%, attracting multinationals from all over the globe. This is compared to the 29.6% rate in Germany, and the 33.3% rate in France. It does not take an economist to assume Brussels will force the UK’s rate up, rather than Europeans bringing theirs down.
It is not just Britain that is being targeted either. Back in 2011, Ireland was asked to yield its low business rate (17%) so more companies could relocate to Germany and France.
By any measure, it would appear that the Eurozone countries are on an inevitable path to integration.
Such an alignment is not suited to Britain, which has historically been an outward looking competitive nation. Policies like the common Corporation tax simply join a long list of EU fantasies which gradually chip away at our independence. To avoid this, we must Get Britain Out. This will ensure our SME’s are unburdened by EU red tape, and the world’s leading entrepreneurs still view Britain as a great place to do business.
Chris Muspratt is a researcher at campaign group Get Britain Out