Background & Purpose

The EU Commission wants a new directive on transfer pricing to make taxation more predictable and reduce double taxation. However, the Swedish parliament believes this issue requires global solutions rather than separate EU rules.

Proposals & Debate

The parliament examined whether the EU proposal complies with the principle that decisions should be made as close to citizens as possible. The conclusion was that turning these international tax rules into strict EU law risks creating more legal uncertainty, more disputes, and higher costs for companies instead of solving the problem.

The Decision

The Swedish parliament officially notified the EU institutions that the proposal does not respect the subsidiarity principle by issuing a reasoned opinion.

Does this affect you?

  • Multinational corporations: Affected by potential future EU tax rules, but currently protected by Sweden's active resistance against increased legal uncertainty.
  • Tax authorities: Avoids managing a potentially rigid new EU framework for pricing between international sister companies.

In Practice

  • The Swedish parliament sends a formal reasoned opinion to the leadership of the European Parliament, the Council of Ministers, and the European Commission.
  • Sweden formally objects to the EU commission's proposed directive on transfer pricing.
  • The parliament highlights that global tax rules should be handled internationally rather than through rigid EU legislation.