Sustainable revenue sources for the EU (WP8)

The current system of own resources of the EU is not sustainability-oriented in itself, it does not have any link to EU strategies and therefore it is one of the most important obstacles towards a future- and sustainability-oriented reform of EU expenditures.

As a first step, the pros and cons of own EU taxes were reviewed, and criteria for the evaluation of different options for own EU taxes were established. These consider both conventional tax policy criteria as well as evaluation criteria that capture the four dimensions of sustainability relevant to revenue/tax systems (economic, social, environmental, and institutional/cultural). Based on these fundamental considerations, the research identifies and evaluates options for own EU taxes, including environmental taxes (e.g. a carbon tax, a flight ticket tax, and a nuclear power tax), a CCCTB-based harmonised corporate income tax, a financial transaction tax, and a net wealth tax.

Quantitative assessment will be provided for the regional incidence of potential sustainability-oriented EU taxes. The investigations will also address options to mitigate potential "undesirable" regional incidence effects of these potential EU taxes.

Selection of publications WP8

- Krenek A, Schratzenstaller M. 2016. Sustainability-oriented EU Taxes: The Example of a European Carbon-based Flight Ticket Tax. Umeå: Umeå universitet. FairTax Working Paper Series, 01.
http://umu.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:930270/FULLTEXT01.pdf

- Schratzenstaller M, Krenek A, Nerudová D, Dobranschi M. 2016. EU Taxes as Genuine Own Resource to Finance the EU Budget: Pros, Cons and Sustainability-oriented Criteria to Evaluate Potential Tax Candidates. Umeå: Umeå Universitet. FairTax Working Paper Series, 03.
http://umu.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:934128/FULLTEXT01.pdf