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> Good. That's called competition. I believe competition has no place, or should have no place, between EU countries. But that's my personnal opinion, which se

by seszett 13y ago

> Good. That's called competition. I believe competition has no place, or should have no place, between EU countries. But that's my personnal opinion, which seems less and less shared accross Europe. > Then why doesn't France lower theirs? "Harmonization" is just a way of saying "they should raise their taxes". Huh, I'm not part of the Ministry of Finance, so I don't think I have to justify myself for France not lowering their taxes, but it's probably because France is more dependant now on corporate tax than Ireland was when they decided to lower them (France still has some kind of industry, while Ireland didn't then). It's not up to France (or Ireland) alone to make a decision to have the same taxes all accross EU anyway. Harmonization means levelling taxes accross the EU, I didn't say a single word on how they should be raised. You are reading way too much in my words. Edit: formatting (and the bit about how the EU is more than just France+Ireland).

davidw 13y ago
> I believe competition has no place, or should have no place, between EU countries. Wow. How would you harmonize the weather between, say, Ireland and Sicily so that people wouldn't be attracted to the better weather down south? No competition is unrealistic and unhealthy. Competition, within limits, makes people/countries/businesses/whatever improve. It doesn't necessarily lead to a "race to the bottom". Look at California in the US, which is not the best state to do business in, with the lowest taxes. It still does pretty well, though. > France still has some kind of industry, while Ireland didn't then That doesn't sound fair. Did France offer to send its industries to Ireland to help out, and avoid competing?
- seszett 13y ago
  > Did France offer to send its industries to Ireland to help out, and avoid competing? You can read up on the history of Arianespace and Airbus to see how France did play the Europe game. But that was in another era, at a time where EU countries were trying to integrate their economies rather than directly compete against each other. Apart from that, the "within limits" part of your comment is exactly what I've been talking about all along our discussion.

by seszett 13y ago

davidw 13y ago

> I believe competition has no place, or should have no place, between EU countries. Wow. How would you harmonize the weather between, say, Ireland and Sicily so that people wouldn't be attracted to the better weather down south? No competition is unrealistic and unhealthy. Competition, within limits, makes people/countries/businesses/whatever improve. It doesn't necessarily lead to a "race to the bottom". Look at California in the US, which is not the best state to do business in, with the lowest taxes. It still does pretty well, though. > France still has some kind of industry, while Ireland didn't then That doesn't sound fair. Did France offer to send its industries to Ireland to help out, and avoid competing?

seszett 13y ago
> Did France offer to send its industries to Ireland to help out, and avoid competing? You can read up on the history of Arianespace and Airbus to see how France did play the Europe game. But that was in another era, at a time where EU countries were trying to integrate their economies rather than directly compete against each other. Apart from that, the "within limits" part of your comment is exactly what I've been talking about all along our discussion.