The leaders of the 27 European Union countries, during a summit in Brussels on Thursday evening, approved the imposition of a minimum tax of 15% on the profits of multinational companies, in a unanimous decision after Hungary and Poland retracted their objections.
This new measure is scheduled to enter into force on December 31, 2023.
The consensus of the twenty-seven countries was necessary for the issuance of this decision, which puts into effect a historic agreement reached last year, under the auspices of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, about 140 countries to achieve greater tax justice in the world.
However, the approval of this project was delayed after it was obstructed since the beginning of the year by Warsaw and then Budapest, as they used it, along with other files, as a pressure card in the framework of their bargaining with Brussels to obtain from the European Union its approval of two economic recovery plans that grant them billions of dollars in subsidies.
And after the European Union approved the recovery plans for Hungary and Poland, the two countries retracted their objections to this tax, as well as to many other files, including the release of financial aid to Ukraine for the year 2023 amounting to 18 billion euros.
French President Emmanuel Macron, who was at the forefront of the tax, was quick to welcome “a big step forward for all those who cling to tax justice.”
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also welcomed the decision, saying, “We are implementing one of the projects dearest to my heart in Europe: the imposition of a minimum corporate tax on a global level.”
ap