direct taxation-related systems, in particular taxation on savings system, taxation on savings test tool, e–forms for direct taxation, tax identification number TIN-on-the-web, the exchanges related to the Article 8 of Council Directive 2011/16/EU and associated test tools;

43. Welcomes the Commission's idea of setting up a working group on double taxation problems, involving tax authorities of Member States and, where appropriate, consumer associations; calls on the Commission to strengthen the EU working group on business taxation, the Joint Transfer Pricing Forum (JTPF), and to engage with the business community and advocates of consumers' rights;

Joining me here today are members of the Canadian Jewellers Association executive committee: Steve Parker, our past president, representing British Columbia, is a Vancouver-based manufacturer; Neil Foster, an independent retailer from Lethbridge, representing the prairie provinces; Mo Charania, representing Ontario, is an independent small-chain retailer in Ottawa; and Satya Poddar, tax partner at Ernst & Young.

35. Notes that the Helsinki European Council did not adopt the tax package owing to a lack of adequate progress on the two components of the package, i.e. the simultaneous adoption of directives on the taxation of savings and on company taxation; points out that there is no reason to kill off fair tax competition in the European Union and that the priority must be to eliminate the distortions which do exist and are actually disrupting the single market, that the competitiveness of European financial markets on a world scale must be preserved, and the geographical coverage of the directive on the taxation of savings should be extended to dependent or associate territori ...[+++]es where Member States have special responsibilities and to non-Community countries likely to attract capital from the European Union;

The shift in emphasis from direct to indirect taxation has created a double problem for charities in some Member States.

I am a partner at the law firm of Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP in Toronto and my friend Bruce Harris is a partner in the accounting firm of PriceWaterhouseCoopers LLP.