Enshrining taxpayers’ fundamental rights at EU level: ‘Ten Commandments for Taxpayers’

In the run-up to the European elections, the Taxpayers’ Association of Europe (TAE) calls on all candidates standing for election to the European Parliament to continue on the path of democracy and to honour the electoral pact with EU citizens.

In this context, the Taxpayers Association of Europe (TAE) calls for the creation of a constitutional framework for the finances of the EU and its Member States, which guarantees the following fundamental rights of taxpayers:

1. Limits on the tax burden
   and the avoidance of double or multiple taxation of income by different countries. Tax exemption up to the subsistence level! Comprehensible tax laws. The avoidance of creeping, inflationary tax increases.
2. A constitutional limit on government expenditure.
3. A ban on EU debt;
   only EU Member States may incur debt.
4. No liability union;
   each EU Member State is liable for itself.
5. The EU must not levy its own taxes.
6. Guarantee of independent public financial oversight.
7. Obligation to assess the cost implications of legislation
   (regulatory impact assessment).
8. Upholding the principle of unanimity in EU financial decisions and their implications for EU Member States.
9. Efficient fulfilment of public duties, strict application of the principle of subsidiarity; reduction of bureaucracy and limitation of public services.
10. Penalties for the waste of taxpayers’ money and the misuse of public funds.

Brussels/Munich, 11 January 2024