- concentrating efforts as regards excise taxes on a few essential political areas (for instance, harmonise rates where substantial problems involving distortion of competition arise, use differentiated tax measures in order to promote renewables).

- Developing innovative approaches , such as payment for environmental services, environmental fiscal reform, public-private partnerships, innovative market-based policy instruments, science-supported policy approaches and the promotion of environmentally beneficial technologies and mechanisms for transfer of technologies (know how) to developing countries.

A Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base for EU businesses (2008); Simplifying the tax environment and creating a level playing field: VAT compliance obligation: one stop shop, (2004); home state taxation, (2005); VAT rules international services and financial services (2005), (2006); VAT public bodies, (2006); Targeted measures to remove cross-border tax barriers faced by EU businesses: cross-border loss relief, (2006); transfer pricing, (2005); capital duty, (2006); A new strategy for car taxation (2005); Reducing distortions created through tax fraud and tax evasion (2006).

All of them face, to differing degrees, a destabilising combination of a substantial grey economy, an insufficiently broad tax base, a poor legal and administrative environment for foreign direct investment, slow progress on structural reforms and privatisation, rising unemployment and in some cases excessively high military expenditure.

If producers reduce the environmental impacts of their products and consequently the environmental costs society has to bear as a whole, it only seems fair that they should profit from a preferential treatment as regards taxation, state aids etc.

In order to further develop the financial participation of employees in profits and enterprise results in Europe, it will be important that Member States continue and intensify their efforts in providing a favourable legal and fiscal environment, taking into account the Treaty rules on state aid and EU policies on harmful tax competition.