Resumen de Social justice and tax competition in the european union
This dissertation addresses several normative questions about tax competition between the European Union Member States. My answers to these questions are part of a wider way of thinking about justice in the EU. I maintain that this economic phenomenon should be regulated in order to of protect a social minimum within each Member State and to protect the fair value of citizens’ political liberties. I distance myself from proposals which seek to stop countries from being able to affect each other through this form of competition. In this vein, the dissertation analyses and rejects a given proposal that seeks to regulate tax competition in favour of an ideal of fiscal self-determination. After advancing my own proposal, I develop it by locating within a conception of justice for the EU. I maintain that the EU should intervene in the economic phenomena it promotes when these undermine the justice and legitimacy of Member States. The EU has a duty to intervene when this happens. I contrast my proposal with another conception of justice that, in essence, seeks to extend distributive principles that typically obtain within Member States to the EU. The dissertation draws on two different arguments in opposing the latter proposal. Finally, I maintain that there are several reasons why my normative proposal for the regulation of tax competition in the EU can be legitimately implemented. I assess my proposal against the main standards of political legitimacy and conclude that this is indeed legitimate. I also ambitiously claim that it may, in fact, enhance the legitimacy of both EU Member States and the EU itself.
