Reuters
Big countries’ tax deal to reveal rift in Europe
BRUSSELS (Reuters) -A global deal on corporate tax looks set to bring to a climax a deep-seated European Union battle, pitting large members Germany, France and Italy against Ireland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. The European Commission, the EU’s executive, has long struggled to get agreement within the bloc on a common approach to taxation, a freedom which has been jealously guarded by all its 27 members, both large and small. “The traditional EU tax holdouts are trying to keep the framework as flexible as possible so that they can continue to do business more or less as usual,” Rebecca Christie of Brussels-based think tank Bruegel said.