Among the weighty and important matters identified in the agreement of the European leaders towards achieving greater Eurozone stability is a reference to “Ireland's willingness to participate constructively in the discussions on the Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base draft directive (CCCTB) and in the structured discussions on tax policy issues in the framework of the Euro Plus Pact.” Has anything changed? The answer is No.

The government line on the Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base draft directive published in March has consistently been a willingness to engage with the Commission and other Member States on the issue provided the principle of unanimity on taxation matters is fully respected.

The Euro Plus Pact has something to say about Corporation tax as well:

• “Direct taxation remains a national competence. Pragmatic coordination of tax policies is a necessary element of stronger economic policy coordination in the euro area to support fiscal consolidation and economic growth. In this context, Member States commit to engage in structured discussions on tax policy issues, notably to ensure the exchange of best practices, avoidance of harmful practices and proposals to fight against fraud and tax evasion.Developing a common corporate tax base could be a revenue neutral way forward to ensure consistency among national tax systems while respecting national tax strategies, and to contribute to fiscal sustainability and the competitiveness of European businesses.The Commission has presented a legislative proposal on a common consolidated corporate tax base.”

Note that while acknowledging the existence of proposals for the CCCTB, the Euro Plus Pact proposes a common corporate tax base – no reference to consolidation. What that might mean in practice is a common set of rules for arriving at the adjusted profit, but no reassignment of profits across borders where a corporate group operates in more than one EU Member State. This reallocation of taxable profit was always the main sticking point for CCCTB as it would effectively dilute Ireland's capacity for tax competitiveness.

If anything, the mention in the Communiqué is an acknowledgement of just how effective the campaign against CCCTB has been. We were the “early resistors” of the project, joined more officially in recent times by countries such as the UK, the Netherlands, Bulgaria, Sweden, Poland, Malta and Romania. The governments of these countries had formally signalled their concerns in recent weeks regarding the compliance by the draft directive to the EU principle of subsidiarity.

There had been suggestions in some quarters that the Irish campaign against CCCTB was a bit too strident, and that we needed to take more of a back seat to allow other countries do a greater share of the arguing. It is now quite clear that had we relented on the sustained opposition that would have been a mistake. “No representation without taxation” as the man nearly said.