Editorial: EU Budgetary Reform and Tax Harmonization: Becoming Brothers in Arms

Abstract

Cordewener discusses the EU budgetary reform and tax harmonization. The ongoing COVID-19 crisis is bringing EU-wide harmonzation of national tax systems and a reform of the EU budgetary system, in particular its financing through so-called own resources, closer together. The political compromise reached by the European Council in July 2020 was followed by a Council Decision and an Interinstitutional Agreement in December 2020, paving the way for the creation of new own resources. In 2021, the Commission has tabled several proposals both for new own resources and for the harmonization of direct taxes. Expectations are high that 2022 will become a decisive year for the future of the fiscal landscape within the EU.