Internationale Politikanalyse International Policy Analysis Thomas Rixen, Susanne Uhl Europeanising Company Taxation – Regaining National Tax Policy Autonomy Expertise for the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung „ Company tax competition restricts the political capacity of EU member states to design their national tax systems in a fair and efficient manner. Tax competition not only endangers tax revenues, but also leads to a shift of the tax burden from capital to labour and consumption. In addition, it undermines the progressiveness of personal income taxation. „ Clinging on to formal national tax sovereignty will systematically un­dermine legitimate democratic autonomy over the design of national tax systems. Regaining de facto control over their tax policies will only be possible if member states come to agree on a(partial) Europeanisation of tax policy. „ Therefore, we propose the introduction of a mandatory common con­solidated corporate tax base with minimum tax rates. The tax base is to be apportioned to member states according to a dual allocation mechanism. The major part of the tax base should be allocated according to(micro­economic) formula apportionment. Second, there should be a macroeco­nomic component to compensate low-tax countries for agreeing to the minimum rate. JULY 2007