Global Corporate Tax: France says EU can bypass Hungarian veto
France will look at bypassing Hungary's veto on a global corporate tax, an official has said after the measure was defeated last week.
"Minimum taxation will be implemented in the coming months without or with Hungary," French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told reporters on Thursday.
"Everyone knows that Hungary's ultimate blockage has absolutely nothing to do with minimum taxation," he continued, adding that "Europe can no longer be hostage to the ill will of some of its members".
He stated that he is now working on "alternative solutions" with Paolo Gentiloni, the EU's Economy Commissioner and that "we will explore, we have started to explore, other possibilities to implement Pillar II [the other name for the Global Corporate Tax] without resorting to a unanimously adopted directive."
The deal piloted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to impose a 15% minimum tax on multinational corporations was endorsed by 136 countries last year. Together, they account for more than 90% of global GDP.
But Hungary, which had first backed the deal, then announced its opposition to it arguing that the tax would deal a "low blow" to European competitiveness when economies worldwide are suffering amid high inflation and a cost of living crisis related to Russia's war in Ukraine.
As a European Directive pertaining to finance needs unanimity to be rolled out, Budapest's veto has derailed its adoption across the 27 member states.
Yet, with just one day to go before handing the baton to Prague, who next takes on the EU Presidency, Le Maire affirmed: "I will not let go".
Failure to have reached an agreement on this file has cast a shadow over the French Presidency's legacy.
"I had the US Treasury Secretary, Janet
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