A Chartered Accountants Ireland delegation led by Institute President John Hannaway and Deputy President Austin Slattery met with a group of Irish MEPs in Brussels on Wednesday 29 February to discuss key EU audit and tax market initiatives such as the Barnier Proposals and the Financial Transactions Tax.

The meeting took place in the European Parliament building in Brussels and was attended by:

• Marian Harkin, Constituency Northwest, who facilitated the meeting
• Emer Costello, Dublin Constituency
• Gay Mitchell, Dublin Constituency
• Liam Aylward, Constituency East
• Mairead McGuinness, Constituency East
• Phil Prendergast, Constituency South
• Pat The Cope Gallagher, Constituency Northwest
• Jim Higgins, Constituency Northwest

and their parliamentary assistants. The Institute representatives also met separately with Mr Sean Kelly, Constituency South, who was unable to attend the main discussion.

The engagement with the MEPs concerned the Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCTB) and Financial Transactions Tax (FTT) proposals, along with the Commission proposals to reform the structure of the audit market – the Barnier proposals. Past president Paul O'Connor and Council Member Liam Lynch made brief presentations on the Barnier and Tax issues respectively, followed by a Question and Answer session.

A fair hearing was received from the MEPs present who are well aware of the possible consequences of EU proposals for the Irish business community. It was agreed by all present that further meetings should take place on business issues where the Institute can be of help in providing information and feedback.

Speaking after the meeting, Institute President John Hannaway commented “It is clear that the nature and scope of the statutory audit need to be enhanced, and the accountancy profession wants to lead the process of development and engage with all those concerned in this important public interest matter. It is therefore particularly helpful for us to speak directly to the EU legislators and to create the links for future dialogue and engagement.”

In relation to the proposed Financial Transactions Tax, Mr Hannaway warned of the dangers of unilateral action which would distort at the moment the relatively open EU market. “While as a general principle, we agree with the Monti report that tax competition is a good thing for the Single Market, a Financial Transactions Tax, if not carefully implemented, would not be good for Europe's competitive position in world financial markets”.

Mr Hannaway also paid particular tribute to the work of Ms Marian Harkin MEP in raising awareness of Irish business interests in the Parliament, and particularly in keeping SME interests to the fore within the ALDE grouping of which she is a member.