"We have to get the United States on board and strike an international tax deal with them as soon as possible. It is important, however, that the US Administration accepts that a common

system is needed, where big US companies cannot opt out of whatever has been agreed internationally", said Andreas Schwab MEP, EPP Group negotiator on digital taxation, ahead of the adoption of the recommendations on digital taxation by the European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee.

The United States have recently indicated that they are willing to drop the so-called ‘safe harbour’ rules, which - according to tax experts - would allow big US tech companies like Amazon, Alphabet’s Google and Facebook to opt-out. "The good news is, of course, that the US recently confirmed that we are again united across the Atlantic. We will fight for a solution at G20/OECD level, but if it doesn't seem possible to get a global solution, the EU should make a move on its own digital tax now. We need a minimum EU taxation without special national tax arrangements for digital companies that will profit from harmonised and fair digital taxation", Schwab added.

The EPP Group Spokesman on Economic Affairs, Markus Ferber MEP, underlined that the European Parliament is ready to transpose an international solution as soon as possible into EU law. “The effective taxation of the digital economy is not only a question of fairness, but also a litmus test for multilateralism. A credible international solution is vastly superior to Europe going it alone. I call on the European Commission and Member States to focus all their energy on finding an international solution to taxing the digital economy”, Ferber stated.