Financing the EU budget through tax-based resources: what are the most reasonable options from a legal-technical perspective?

Financiando el presupuesto europeo a través de recursos basados en los impuestos: ¿cuáles son las opciones mas viables desde una perspectiva legal y técnica.

Abstract

This contribution is divided into three parts. First, it addresses the reason why the debate on the reform of EU tax-based own resources is important today. It is not just a matter of timing and of the need to compensate for the cost of the EU recovery program. There are other issues that have been pending for years, sometimes decades now, that justify opening this debate again. Then, it discusses legal-constitutional issues, such as the appropriate legal basis to reform EU tax-based own resources. Art. 311 TFEU, which entrusts the EU with the capacity to be funded by self-defined own resources and not by mere voluntary contributions of Member States, like other, more traditional, international organisations, is indeed not suitable to adopt legal instruments in the area of tax policy and tax harmonization, which are regulated by other provisions, with other procedures. The third part is a small policy contribution from a legal perspective to the discussion of the different options of new EU taxes on the table.