The relationship between the OECD BEPS project and the EU is more complex than might appear at first glance. On the one hand, the EU Commission is an active supporter of the project and some of its proposals have already made it into EU legislation. On the other hand, the EU Commission and the Parliament are committed to the adoption of the CCCTB, a formulary apportionment system, which departs dramatically from the international tax system which the BEPS project is meant to fix. More immediately, EU law might act as a constraint on the proposals resulting from the project. This research examines the relationship between the OECD BEPS project and EU law. As a first step it identifies the OECD proposals most susceptible to challenge on the grounds of incompatibility with EU law and provides a careful legal analysis of the matter. The research then explores the unilateral and coordinated avenues through which, as a practical matter, EU Member States could adopt the OECD proposals. The research concludes by asking whether the adoption of the BEPS proposals implies a different conception of the internal market from that which emerges from current EU case law.
John Vella and Anzhela Yevgenyeva
