Finance Minister Ivan Mikloš strongly refutes criticism by Germany and France on tax reductions in Slovakia and other new EU members, as well as their calls for harmonisation inside the EU, news wire TASR wrote.
After the talks of the EU finance ministers (ECOFIN) in Brussels on Tuesday, Mikloš said he thought such statements reflected the internal political situation in Germany and France.
"We simply dismiss any efforts leading to harmonisation in the areas of taxes or social affairs," Mikloš said.
"This is caused by the current [economic] situation inside these countries," he said, noting that nobody opened this issue at the ECOFIN Council talks in Brussels.
The "tax dumping" in Slovakia and Estonia was recently criticised by German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, while French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier attacked the "social dumping" in new EU countries.
Both politicians called for harmonisation of EU rules in tax and social areas.
"There is no chance to promote these efforts in the EU, and even less chance in the enlarged EU than in the previous EU 15," Mikloš said.
Compiled by Beata Balogová from press reports
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