Admission requirements
Only students of the Advanced MSc International Relations and Diplomacy programme can take this course.
Description
After the 2008 financial crisis and prompted by media reports about aggressive tax planning strategies used by MNEs (multinational enterprises), the issue of base erosion and profit shifting reached the top of the political agenda. In this course, we will distinguish the concepts of “tax evasion” and “tax avoidance” and discuss the basic principles of taxation of MNEs, including how MNEs shift profits to low tax jurisdiction. Then, we will turn to discussing policy responses that have been adopted by states, international, and regional organizations including the EU.
In this first part, we look at the evolution of global tax governance and draw a map of the international and regional actors that have a stake in the international sphere. We also address the mapping of the most important regional initiatives in trade and investment and the link to taxation. By mapping out these initiatives, this course aims to identify the different levels of cooperation among countries in a regional context, as well as the stakeholders that play a role in these regional initiatives.
In the second part, we will investigate the role of the European Union in promoting policy standards on base erosion and profit shifting both internally and externally through the EU Anti-Avoidance Package, the EU Fair and Simple Taxation Tax Package and the Standard of Good Tax Governance. Since 2008, the EU has developed tools to induce non-EU countries to comply with global tax standards. For example, it has established a process to list countries that do not comply with global standards as “non-cooperative jurisdiction”. We will investigate the impact of this process on non-EU countries, discuss the critiques made by different stakeholders, and debate how EU tax policy should evolve in the future.
This course welcomes interaction between different areas of law, public policy and international relations.
Course objectives
By the end of this course the students will have integrated knowledge about basic tax policy questions as well as about the challenges that the states, international, and regional organizations including the EU face in the fight against tax avoidance and in promulgating fair and equitable rules.
Students will also have developed their research skills, have exercised public speaking, leadership, presenting, academic writing, and social skills (cooperation, working in groups).
Timetable
On the right-hand side of the programme front page of the studyguide you will find a link to the online timetables.
Mode of instruction
This course is worth 5 ECTS, which means the total course load equals 140 hours:
Seminars: 4 seminars of 3.5 hours (total 14 hours)
Literature reading: 8 hours/week (total 32 hours)
Literature review: 20 hours
Presentation: 24 hours
Essay: 50 hours
Attendance Policy
Attendance is mandatory, subject to course structure (see syllabus for details).
Assessment method
Literature review (20%)
Presentation (20%)
Essay (60%)
The assessment methods will be further explained in the first session of the class.
Failed partial grades or components should be compensated by passed partial grades or components. The calculated grade must be at least 5.50 to pass the course. It is not possible to re-sit a partial grade or component once you have passed the course.
Passed partial grades obtained in the academic year 2023-2024 remain valid during the academic year 2024-2025.
Passed partial grades obtained in the academic year 2024-2025 remain valid during the academic year 2025-2026.
Should a student fail the overall course, s/he can complete the course in the next academic year.*In cases of exceptional circumstances, a student may apply to the board of examiners for a resit to complete the course in the same academic year.
***The assessment method has changed from last academic year***. Students that have valid partial grades from last academic year, may complete the course according to last years assessment methods.
Reading list
Mosquera Valderrama, Irma 2024: How Can Regional Cooperation Help the Enhancement of Regional Economic Development and Strengthen the Voices of Developing Countries in Global Tax Negotiations? Journal of World Investment & Trade 25 (2024) 201–236
Mosquera Valderrama, I. J. A new wind change in direct taxation. 20 Challenges for the EU in 2020’s. Special Issue German Law Journal.
Mosquera Valderrama, I. J. The EU standard of good governance in tax matters for third (non-EU) countries. Intertax.
Mosquera Valderrama, I. J (2015) Legitimacy and the Making of International Tax Law The Challenges of Multilateralism World Tax Journal 7(3):344-366.
Mosquera Valderrama, I. J, (with I.J.J. Burgers) (2017) Fairness: A Dire International Standard with no Meaning? Intertax (45(12):767-783 (article in journal)
Martin Hearson, “The IPE of Global Tax Governance,” in The Routledge Handbook to Global Political Economy (Routledge, 2020), 673–90.
Abraham Newman and David Bach, “The European Union as Hardening Agent: Soft Law and the Diffusion of Global Financial Regulation,” Journal of European Public Policy 21, no. 3 (2014): 430–52.
Collin, Matthew. “Does the Threat of Being Blacklisted Change Behavior? Regression Discontinuity Evidence from the EU’s Tax Haven Listing Process.” Working Paper, 2020.
Registration
The programme will register the students in Usis based on the group division. Use Brightspace for course information.
Contact
Prof. Dr. Irma J. Mosquera Valderrama
Professor Tax Governance, EU Jean Monnet Chair on EU Tax Governance, PhD Dean and Lead Researcher ERC GLOBTAXGOV Project, Leiden Law School
i.j.mosquera.valderrama@law.leidenuniv.nl
Remarks
This course is an elective designed for MIRD students.
Previous course title was "The Fight Against International Tax Avoidance: European Union Policies"
This elective is conditional on at least 5 students registering for this course.
Second year students have priority for the registration to this course.
This course is intensive, with all sessions taking place in the month of February.