We’ll not give up tax powers just to get help with Brexit
ALLOWING the deadline for a Brexit agreement on the border to slip into November will not pave the way for the EU to pressure Ireland over its corporate tax rate, the Taoiseach has insisted.
A Bloomberg financial website report suggested some EU member states would pressure Ireland into dropping its opposition to tax reforms in exchange for support on Brexit.
European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker recently called for the removal of the veto individual member states have on changes to tax rules in favour of a majority voting system.
Such a change may hand the advantage to larger member states such as France and Germany, at the expense of smaller ones like Ireland.
The prospect of Ireland being pressed on corporation tax changes in exchange for support on Brexit was raised by Labour leader Brendan Howlin in the Dáil during Leader’s Questions. He said the deadline for an agreement on the border had been allowed to slip, saying Ireland would be vulnerable to lastminute pressure if a deal on the border were at stake.
But Leo Varadkar rejected the notion that our 12.5% corporate tax rate could be weaved in to Brexit talks.
‘There’s a lot of briefing going on. Whatever people may say about me and the Government I lead, I guarantee it’s not coming from me or from the EU Commission,’ he told the Dáil. ‘I’m forever reading this stuff and I can absolutely guarantee that EU solidarity behind Ireland, the 27 member states supporting us as a country that is staying in the European Union, is absolutely solid.’
Fianna Fáil Brexit spokeswoman Lisa Chambers said such reports ‘play into the hands of those who want to create division and discord between member states’.
‘It is important that we, as a bloc, continue to focus on the issues at hand and exercise the same degree of solidarity and unanimity that has been shown to date. Ultimately, Ireland is a committed member and strong defender of the EU and I do not expect that we will have to pay a price for the solidarity of our colleagues,’ she said.
European Council president Donald Tusk yesterday called on EU leaders to ‘act responsibly’ to avoid a Brexit catastrophe ahead of today’s European Council summit in Salzburg.
With talks on the EU-UK divorce entering their final stages, Mr Tusk admitted yesterday that a ‘no-deal scenario is quite possible’.
In a letter to EU leaders, he suggested holding an emergency European Council in November to push a Brexit deal over the line – a move that has long been mooted with the prospects of a deal by the October summit growing increasingly slim.
Mr Tusk set out three objectives to find a new way forward with talks, which have stalled over the key question of the Irish border.
‘First we should reach a common view on the nature and overall shape of the joint political declaration about our future partnership with the UK,’ he said.
‘Second, we will discuss how to organise the final phase of the Brexit talks, including the possibility of calling another European Council in November.
‘Third, we should re-confirm the need for a legally operational backstop on Ireland so as to be sure there will be no hard border in the future.
‘Let me recall that limiting the damage caused by Brexit is our shared interest. Unfortunately, a no-deal scenario is still quite possible. But if we all act responsibly, we can avoid a catastrophe.’
Mr Tusk’s letter will be seen as a rallying call to EU leaders, and British prime minister Theresa May who will also attend the summit.
She has insisted her Chequers plan is the only alternative to a no-deal Brexit, but the summit will be a chance to renew diplomatic efforts.
‘EU is solidly behind us’ ‘Possible no-deal’