The proposal was made when the EU finance ministers had an informal meeting in Prague, these five member states put forward a joint position to implement the global minimum effective taxation in 2023.
According to Lusa, France, Spain, Italy, Germany and the Netherlands argue that, "as inflation hits citizens' purchasing power hard, companies must pay their share of the burden to ease the impact of the global energy crisis," which is why they reaffirm their "reinforced commitment to rapidly implement" this 15% taxation on the profits of larger companies.
"It is a key for greater tax justice through a more efficient fight against tax optimisation and tax evasion," the five countries argue, recalling the previous consensus among 26 of the 27 member states, which was opposed only by Hungary.
"Should unanimity not be reached in the coming weeks, our governments are fully determined to follow through on our commitment. We are ready to implement global minimum effective taxation in 2023 and by any legal means possible," they assure.
Presenting the proposal to the press on the sidelines of the Ecofin in Prague, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said he rejected the Hungarian blockade, arguing that minimum taxation should "move forward as quickly as possible in Europe because it is a matter of fiscal justice in a period of high inflation".
Spanish Minister Nadia Calviño said the five countries were "determined to move forward", while her Italian counterpart Daniele Franco argued for the need to "ensure that multinationals contribute".
German Finance Minister Christian Lindner spoke of the current "financial needs in state budgets", while his Dutch counterpart Sigrid Kaag said that "there has been an agreement and we need to move forward".
EU finance ministers have not yet managed to reach a consensus that multinational companies should pay at least 15% tax on profits in the EU, following the agreement reached at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) for such taxation, given Hungary's blockage.
The European Commission proposed last December a minimum taxation of 15% on the profits of multinationals in the EU, as agreed at the OECD, aiming for fairness and tax stability in the EU.
The proposal submitted established an effective tax rate of 15% in the EU, as agreed by 137 countries in the OECD, and provides for the rules to apply to any large group, whether national or international, with a parent company or subsidiary located in an EU Member State.