Project FairTax at the Permanent Representation of Sweden to the EU

On October 25, 2016, Project FairTax hosted an open research seminar on “Fair and Sustainable Taxation in the EU” at the Permanent Representation of Sweden to the EU in Brussels. The seminar, which was moderated by Dr. Emer Mulligan, ICSG, NUIG attracted an audience of over 100 participants from EU institutions, stakeholder organisations, lobby-groups, universities, and others with an interest in future tax issues in Europe. Challenging questions were rasied during the seminar, shaping, in part the future direction of Project FairTax. 

Fredrik Löfstedt, Fiscal Attaché at the Permanent Representation of Sweden to the EU, commenced proceedings by welcoming the audience. Åsa Gunnarsson, Umeå University and FairTax Coordinator, then presented a summary of the FairTax project. This was followed by three presentations from members of the FairTax consortium entitled  (i) Importance of a fair and sustainable taxation, (ii) Candidates for Tax-based EU Own Resources and (iii) The administrative dimension of tax policy. Each presentation was responded to by experts including Sol Picciotto, Lancaster University, International Centre for Tax & Development, Micheál Collins, School of Social Policy, Social Work and Social Justice, University College Dublin, Gaëlle Garnier from the European Commission, Directorate-General for Taxation and the Customs Union, Jorge Núñez Ferrer from the Centre for European Policy Studies and Hans Gribnau, Tilburg University.