Source: European Parliament
Question for written answer E-002986/2025
to the Commission
Rule 144
Giusi Princi (PPE), Letizia Moratti (PPE), Flavio Tosi (PPE), Fulvio Martusciello (PPE), Marco Falcone (PPE), Caterina Chinnici (PPE), Massimiliano Salini (PPE), Salvatore De Meo (PPE)
The complex corporate structures used by some digital multinationals, as highlighted in the Amazon case, allow them to minimise their tax burden in the EU by means of transfer pricing and spreading royalties intra-group, thus giving rise to an unlevel playing field for European SMEs that are subject to full taxation.
The current European regulatory framework does not have sufficiently effective tools to tackle the complex tax optimisation structures used by multinationals, creating significant disparities in the internal market.
This system causes particularly serious competitive distortions in the EU’s outermost and least developed such as Calabria, where the closure of small businesses deprives already fragile municipalities of essential tax revenues, accelerating depopulation and compromising local public services.
Can the Commission therefore say:
- 1.Whether it intends to put forward a revision of the principle of free competition and the state aid rules to more effectively combat tax avoidance by digital multinationals?
- 2.What specific measures it intends to take to protect European SMEs from unfair competition from operators benefiting from tax advantages through complex avoidance schemes?
- 3.How it intends to ensure that the tax revenue generated by digital business remains in the territories where the profits are made, thereby supporting local authorities and the development of areas on the edge of the EU?
Submitted: 17.7.2025