Multiple streams, leaked opportunities, and entrepreneurship in the EU agenda against tax avoidance

Abstract

This paper discusses the recent initiatives of the EU against tax evasion and tax avoidance from a Multiple Streams perspective. By combining a chronological review of EU tax provisions with a quantitative content analysis of official EU documents, I show how both EU corporate tax policy and the way it is framed have changed over time: From market-enhancing toward market-regulating tax measures that explicitly address corporate tax avoidance. Contrary to what is often assumed, findings show that the crucial window of opportunity did not stem from the financial and Eurozone crisis, but rather from the accumulation of tax scandals since 2013. Furthermore, my analysis differentiates between the entrepreneurship of the Commission as a whole and the individual entrepreneurship of single personalities to better understand the dynamics that lead to policy change in the EU.

One for the money, two for the show: What are the actor‐based incentives for public‐private partnerships for innovation?

“…In our case, using the theoretical framework helps to understand how a process evolved within the streams and how the organization has developed at a particular point in time, although the context may have existed for a longer period of time. The MSF takes into account the importance and role of the individual actors, who have ambivalent interests and policy beliefs due to their commitment to the public or private sector and were influencing the process with their individual effort (Roland, 2020).…”

“…They achieve this commitment by not only investing their own resources, such as time, work, energy, reputation, or money but by also experiencing satisfaction through their participation or personal gain in the form of job security or a career promotion. Policy entrepreneurs can distinguish themselves through their individual efforts or as a whole group or organization (Roland, 2020). Furthermore, Deruelle (2016) specifies the role of the policy entrepreneur as solution driven, because he finds a problem for an existing solution.…”

“…This theoretical framework is particularly suitable because it helps to provide an understanding of how a process appears at a specific point in time, based on the combination of explanatory factors that occur as part of a political process. The MSF takes into account the role of individual stakeholders, with ambiguous interests and policy beliefs, and can determine under what circumstances a PPP can emerge without related coalition building but with the individual effort of policy entrepreneurs (Roland, 2020). Furthermore, it helps us to establish a timeline by identifying and assessing context information to the streams of the MSF in order to visualize the interaction and preferences of involved actors.…”

Policy Change in Times of Politicization: The Case of Corporate Taxation in the European Union*

“…The Commission's course changed in 2012 with the 'Action Plan for a more effective EU response to tax evasion and avoidance', which included new market-correcting measures aimed at transparency and 'tax fairness' (European Commission, 2012a;Panayi, 2019;Roland, 2020). This new commitment became manifest in several directives and various state aid cases that ruled specific corporate tax treatments as competitive distortions (Römgens, 2019; see Table 1 for an overview of relevant secondary tax legislation introduced before and after the crisis).…”

Elites, bureaucrats, and entrepreneurship in policy processes

“…In the larger theoretical context of the Multiple Streams Framework (MSF), the study introduces the possibility of policy entrepreneurs acting over a longer period of time and enabling or blocking the potential continuation or implementation of policies. Further researching the concept of the policy entrepreneur, Roland (2020) distinguishes between collective and individual entrepreneurship of the European Commission. In detail, entrepreneurship is analyzed in the evolution of EU corporate tax policy with the double role of the European Commission as a collective actor and the President of the European Commission as an individual actor promoting policy.…”