Should one expect a happy ending of Mercosur-European Union negotiations? : The role played -or the threats placed- by trade and fiscal issues

• Autores: Rezk, Ernesto; Biagetti, Marco
• Año de publicación: 2018
• Idioma: inglés
• Tipo de recurso: documento de conferencia
• Materia: Ciencias Económicas; tax and spending tools; Mercosur; European Union
• Institución: Universidad Nacional de La Plata

The paper´s declared objective is to revise the main used tax and spending tools, both in Mercosur and the EU and to suggest the necessary corrections or changes in case they are likely to bring about negative effects or distortions upon trade and investment flows. In responding to the objective, the paper critically surveys national, subnational and local fiscal structures of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay and of six European countries selected on the basis of their economic relationship to Mercosur countries (France, Germany, Italy Portugal, Spain and the Netherlands); the analysis involves the scrutiny of specific tax instruments as well as the design of spending packages in so far as these could impact on the trade of goods and services or upon investment flows. This review permits to ascertain whether a fair fiscal treatment of export of goods and services (in either direction) prevails or whether determined tax and spending tools should be eliminated, modified or replaced in order to avoid the possibility of creating artificial advantages to some countries or sectors which may, in turn, discourage free trade among the parties. In support of the above revision, stylized facts are presented in order to show the depth of integration. For this, trade figures are supplied for relevant goods including an estimation of the tax content and impact within the main traded goods; stylized facts also inform about the services traded and investment flows, classified by country.
Facultad de Ciencias Económicas