The minimum tax of 15% on the profits of multinationals "
will be put in place
" in the European Union with or without Hungary, which vetoes the adoption by the 27 of this reform negotiated at the world level, assured Thursday the Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire.
“
I will never give up on this subject and this minimum tax will be put in place in the coming months, with or without the consent of Hungary
,” he said during a press briefing on the results of the presidency. of the European Union (PFUE) on economic and financial issues.
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The unanimous adoption of a directive by the Member States during this six-month presidency which ends this Thursday was one of France's priority objectives.
But the 27 come up against the blocking of Hungary, which invoked the impact of the war in Ukraine on the economy in mid-June to put its veto.
“
I take this blocking philosophically for a very simple reason: everyone knows that the ultimate blocking of Hungary has absolutely nothing to do with minimum taxation on companies
”, affirmed Bruno Le Maire.
In struggle with the European Commission
Hungary is struggling with the European Commission to obtain the release of 7.2 billion euros in European subsidies for its recovery plan, blocked due to an insufficient fight against corruption.
"
We are working with (the European Commissioner for Economic Affairs) Paolo Gentiloni on alternative solutions which would allow the States which wish to do so to adopt a European
system to set up this mechanism of minimum taxation without Hungary", specified the French minister. .
Read alsoHungary torpedoes the European project for a minimum tax of 15%
One option could be to go through an enhanced cooperation mechanism on certain subjects, which only requires the agreement of nine Member States.
The global minimum tax is only one part (known as pillar 2) of the agreement concluded last year by 140 countries, including Hungary, under the aegis of the OECD.
The first pillar, which targets digital giants in particular, provides for the taxation of companies where they make their profits to put an end to certain tax evasion practices.