Les réformes fiscales en Europe, 1992-2002

This article presents and discusses the tax reforms recently implemented in EU countries. Despite globalization, public expenditure and taxes have not been significantly reduced as a per cent of GDP. Although disparate, the national reforms share common grounds : increasing the attractiveness of domestic location of production, lowering unskilled labour costs, encouraging work, reducing pollution, providing local authorities with a certain degree of autonomy. But in this process redistribution issues have become second. The article assesses the risks of enhanced tax competition resulting from the single Market and advocates for the urgent need to harmonize some elements of company, capital income and environmental taxation. The desirable changes of the European tax system are addressed. How could a harmonized framework be designed, while leaving the control of the level of domestic public spending and redistribution in the hands of member states? JEL Codes : H30.