Bilateral cooperation as an instrument of harmonization in the field of direct company taxation -a comparative legal analysis with particular focus on the German-French intergovernmental cooperation

该研究项目的目的是分析政府间合作作为统一欧洲联盟公司税法的工具的适宜性。该项目基于一个严重的两难境地：一方面，欧盟委员会和成员国仍然认为，目前迫切需要进一步协调。另一方面，常规文书被认为不适合进行这种协调。为了打破这一僵局，德国和法国近年来研究了双边协调的可能性，并在一定程度上实施了一致的公司税规定。这种开辟新天地的意愿使我们有理由审查双边办法作为一种新的协调工具是否合适。我们认为，由于双边方法发生在欧盟体制框架之外，因此不参与欧盟法律的首要适用，这种方法的适宜性在很大程度上取决于协调措施与合作国家现有税收制度相兼容的方式。因此，要审查双边办法的适宜性，首先需要查明与参考领域的协调有关的法律(和可能是非法律)因素。其次，这些因素的重要性必须相对于各自的参照区进行加权。最后，必须将获得的知识归类到元框架中。系统化将使我们能够就双边办法的适宜性得出一般性结论。调查结果应向参加超国家一级和国家一级立法进程的机构表明，除了现有的协调方法外，政府间合作是否适当。

The aim of the research project is to analyze the suitability of intergovernmental cooperation as an instrument for the harmonization of corporate tax law in the European Union. The project is based on an acute dilemma: On the one hand the EU Commission and member states still hold the opinion that there is an ongoing and urgent need for further harmonization. On the other hand the conventional instruments have been deemed unsuitable for such harmonization. To break this deadlock, Germany and France have in recent years examined the possibilities of bilateral harmonization and have - to a certain extent - implemented consistent provisions of company taxation. This readiness to break new ground gives reason to examine the suitability of the bilateral approach as a new instrument of harmonization. In our opinion, as the bilateral approach takes place outside the institutional framework of the EU and therefore does not participate in the primacy of application of Union law, the suitability of the approach largely depends on the way in which harmonizing measures are compatible with the existing tax systems of the cooperating states. Thus an examination of the suitability of the bilateral approach first requires the identification of the legal (and possibly non-legal) factors which are relevant for harmonization with regard to reference areas. Next, the importance of those factors has to be weighted with respect to the respective reference areas. Finally, the knowledge acquired has to be classified in a meta-framework. The systematization shall enable us to draw general conclusions regarding the suitability of the bilateral approach. The findings shall show the institutions participating in the legislative process on both the supranational and the national level the appropriacy of intergovernmental cooperation in addition to the existing methods of harmonization.