Fiscal Harmonization In The Benelux Economic Union

The first part of this study gives a concise review and extension of the theory of customs and tax unions. The second part presents a description and analysis of the Benelux fiscal harmonization program, with a final chapter dealing with the lessons of the Benelux.

Preface. 1. The World Scenario and the Approximation of Law. 2. Vehicles for the Harmonisation of Law. 3. Regionalisation and Standardisation of Law. 4. Regional Corporate Law Harmonisation: The EU and the Mercosur. 5. The Infrastructure of Capital. 6. The Phenomenon of Development: International and Regional Approaches to Banking and Financial Law. 7. Theories of the Company. 8. Corporate Governance. 9. International Legal Standards and the Inclusion of Emerging Countries in the Globalised Order: The Case Study of Brazil. 10. Conclusion: Legal Pluralism and the Creation of Standards within the Process of Globalisation¿Analytical Summary and Theoretical and Practical Implications. Bibliography.

The results of the work of the Conference on Tax Coordination in the European Community appear at a time when the Community has undertaken, as a priority task, the completion of the internal market. The Commission's programme and proposed timetable for the achievement of that goal are spelt out in the White Paper, which was endorsed by the European Council at Milan in June 1985, an endorsement which was repeated at the Council's subsequent meeting in Luxemburg in December 1985. The Commission wholly endorses the views of the Conference as regards the need for urgent action to remove the grave restrictions on the free movement of the factors of production which continue to exist within the Community. It is the Commission's firm view that only a true dismantling of fiscal frontiers can permit the creation of an area without internal frontiers for which the Single European Act provides. To that end a certain approximation of rates of indirect taxation is indispensable if unacceptable distortion of competition is to be avoided. It is noteworthy that the Conference attaches great importance to the Community's problems in the field of direct taxation. This work will be particularly useful to the Commission, which intends to produce a further White Paper on company taxation in the near future. As the Conference rightly notes, action in this field is important for equalisation of the conditions of competition necessary for the completion of the internal market.

The "European Yearbook promotes the scientific study of nineteen European supranational organisations and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Each volume contains a detailed survey of the history, structure and yearly activities of each organisation and an up-to-date chart providing a clear overview of the member states of each organisation. Each volume contains a comprehensive bibliography covering the year's relevant publications.