madam president i regret to say that it seems that this european council could bring on some dangerous changes and we should be concerned about this
under the banner of so-called economic coordination economic governance stability for the euro area we see a favouring of eu-wide tax harmonisation and eu-wide fiscal unification
parliament unfortunately has been playing a very active role in that
let me speak clearly
the commission's proposal of a common consolidated corporate tax base is a risky step that will undermine healthy tax competition amongst member states prove harmful to the economy and drive business away from those who impose the policy
this has all gone too far and must be stopped
what we have also seen in the last few days is an attempt by some member states to interfere in the fiscal and tax sovereignty of others
you know what i am referring to the very disgraceful bullying of ireland
we must not let this happen again
turning to libya developments in libya have reminded us once again that we should not expect too much from the so-called eu common foreign and security policy
national leaders not eu leaders have shown international leadership
prime minister cameron and president sarkozy have made and pushed through decisions not the eu representatives
i think that it shows clearly that there are limits to integration in this field but not only in this field
no member state should feel obliged to do more than it feels is right
this is as valid for foreign policy as it is for economic policy
europe must stay flexible wherever possible and not be driven by rigid integrationist dogma any more and it is time for a change in the eu integration paradigm
that is clear
that is understandable and i hope that the european council will deal with that
