What role should multinational organizations, such as the OECD and the EU, have in tax affairs?
I think they play both a legitimate and a useful role. I think there is a role for organizations to help governments understand what tax policy does to their economies and what tax policy does to the competitive nature of the environment that they’re creating for the businesses that are located there. I think that some form of, to some extent, independent influence and guidance in those areas is useful, otherwise the debate is solely between governments and the taxpayers which doesn’t always create the best, the fullest debate about all the issues and all the implications, so I think it’s very useful and very helpful when other organizations help shape policy, and to go beyond that, regarding the OECD, provide some consistency and an ability to point to a consistent application of complex principles on a global basis. I think that there’s a role to play but I would stop there. Just a role to play.
