![handle is hein.journals/deakin24 and id is 1 raw text is:
THE PERIPATETIC NATURE OF EU
CORPORATE TAX LAW
CHRISTIANA HJI PANAYI*
This article examines some aspects of the European Union's corporate tax
set-up which correspond to aspects of a country's corporate tax regime. The
overarching question is whether there is such a thing as EU corporate tax
law. This article seeks to address this in the context of the following issues:
the existence of a uniform tax base and tax rates; the existence of anti-abuse
rules and a transfer pricing regime; and, finally, the existence of a common
tax administration and its powers. The article questions whether the
peripatetic development of EU corporate tax law is suitable for the EU or
whether it undermines its long-term objectives. The potential impact of Brexit
in the development of EU corporate tax law is also addressed.
I INTRODUCTION
Although there have been rapid developments and dense harmonisation in some
areas of European Union ('EU') law, in other areas progress has been rather
limited. Taxation, and especially corporate taxation, is one such area. There are
a number of reasons why the development of EU tax law has not kept pace with
other areas of law, the most important of them being the lack of Union
competence in direct tax matters and, as a corollary, the fiscal veto enjoyed by
all Member States. Under the principle of attribution of powers,1 a cornerstone
of the European legal structure, the Union and its institutions enjoy competence
only in the areas of law assigned to or conferred on them under EU treaties.
This principle of attribution of powers must be respected both internally and in
the Union's external sphere of affairs. Therefore, every act must be based on a
general or specific treaty provision (the legal basis) empowering the Union,
expressly or impliedly, to act.
Chair in Tax Law, Queen Mary University of London. The author would like to thank Dr
Michael Blackwell for comments on an earlier draft. The contents of this article are based on
materials available up to 25 July 2019.
Treaty on European Union, opened for signature 7 February 1992 [2009] OJ C 115/13 (entered
into force 1 November 1993) ('TEU') art 5.](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/deakin24&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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