Why EU state aid is not the right tool to fight tax avoidance

Rather than pursuing companies such as Apple for what they did in the past, we should focus on shaping a fair tax system for the future

Nobody will accuse me of being lax on state aid enforcement. In 2008, when European Union member states were about to embark on a subsidy race to bail out banks hit by the financial crisis, I stated that state aid rules are part of the solution, not the problem. And while many disagreed with the application of state aid rules to bailouts, I advocated the enforcement of tough restructuring obligations for state-aided banks.

However, state aid is not a cure for all ills. Today, there is a broad sentiment that multinational companies do not pay enough taxes, that they are using mismatches between national tax laws to lower their tax burden.