Prepare for the EU’s ‘Hamilton moment’

The EU may boast a common currency like any other state (even if nearly a third of its 27 members do not use it). It may also have, through its regulatory jurisdiction over banks and financial services, a vast say in the running of the financial system throughout the bloc: powers at least comparable to those of a federal government such as that in Canada or Australia. But there is one thing the EU has not yet managed to get: a unified tax system. 

Any attempt seriously to impinge on national tax laws still requires unanimity among member states. This irks Euro-federalists. 

One reason is that it draws the centre into unseemly squabbles. An embattled Greek state (corporate tax rate 24 per cent), for example, complains that its best entrepreneurs relocate to Greek-speaking areas of Bulgaria (ten per cent); or Germany (30 per cent) angrily recounts its loss of billions when profits from online sales there magically morph into royalty payments to entities in Ireland (12.5