Poland blocks European agreement on minimum tax

Flags of Germany, the EU and Poland in Frankfurt an der Oder

Photo: Z1022 Patrick Pleul/ dpa

Poland is blocking an EU law to implement the international minimum tax.

"Unfortunately, there was no agreement today on the implementation of global minimum taxation in the European Union," said Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) after a meeting of EU economics and finance ministers.

"We agreed with all but one Member State - Poland - that this is a big step forward."

French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, who currently chairs the Finance Council, expressed anger.

The reasons why Poland rejected the law are a "mystery," he said.

"I just want to tell you that we have answered all the technical concerns of the member states." Ultimately, Estonia, Malta and Sweden also had no objections.

They also responded to Poland's concerns.

"So there must be another reason, a reason I don't know," Le Maire said.

In Brussels and Berlin it is suspected that Poland wants to use the blockade to blackmail the release of money from the Corona aid fund.

The EU Commission has so far delayed the payment due to concerns about the independence of the Polish courts.

However, Le Maire did not confirm this.

In December, the European Commission presented a legislative proposal to implement the first part of the ambitious international tax reform that the EU had previously agreed on with over 130 other countries.

The aim is to prevent corporate profits from being shifted to tax havens.

International companies with sales of at least 750 million euros per year should pay at least 15 percent in taxes, regardless of where they are based.

The proposal still needs to be approved by EU countries and the European Parliament before the law can come into force from 2023.

According to the Commission, another part of the global tax reform is to be fleshed out later in the year with a legislative proposal.

This is intended to ensure that international digital corporations such as Facebook are not only taxed in their home country, but also where they actually do business.

Poland now insists on linking both parts by law - even if there is only a legal text in the EU for the first part with the 15 percent.

Firm assurances that the second part would follow were not enough for the government in Warsaw, said Le Maire.

dab/dpa