Madam, - A report in your edition of April 23rd headed "Concern at EU tax plan" quotes from a Government document hostile to the harmonisation of EU corporate tax rates as follows: "With the base harmonised it would be easy to propose a common uniform EU tax rate. This is not a good feature". But why is it not a good feature?
We have been members of the EU since 1972 and it is becoming increasingly obvious that multinational companies are exploiting the Union's different tax regimes to shed labour and move capital to other nation states within the Union.
Just look at the situation in Nenagh in respect of Procter and Gamble. Nation-states within the EU are now competing with each other for multinational investment. They view labour as merely a commodity without any intrinsic social or human value - and the current anarchic situation will not disabuse them of that outlook.
An EU response focusing on strengthening the role of trade unions within the context of multinational employers and ensuring a greater oversight of how capital and profits are used is an essential and overdue democratic reaction.
Multinational capital needs Europe. But only by acting together can we ensure that we are not treated like a continental gambling casino but as a region of the world where human decency takes precedence over the unacceptable face of capitalism. - Yours, etc,
SEÁN WHELAN,
RÓISÍN WHELAN,
Ormond Keep,
Nenagh,
Co Tipperary.