50 years and four days in the European Union today

I'm not it is as simple as that. I think it is fairly well recognised that a lot of our economy is based on inward investment from the US and measures have been brought in at the EU level to curb Ireland's some of Ireland's policies in this regards.

According to my own google searches it was 2013- https://assets.gov.ie/227066/9028d3a9-82d2-4c85-9cac-30370d83c278.pdf

But I guess that must be dismissed as infantile because it doesn’t fit with the “EU being wonderful and only an idiot would ever question it’s greatness for Ireland” narrative that so many are fixated on. A but like those that didn’t subscribe to Nazism were mentally ill

I would also be stunned if an Irish person asked what PAYE tax was. Only an utter idiot would fail to realise that Ireland in the last 50 years has received massive net funding from the EU. Every motor way in the country was paid for by the EU, every college graduate in the country for 30 years was almost completely funded by the EU and farm incomes were subsidised up to as much as 60% for the vast majority of those years in what WAS a primarily agricultural country.

If a person were under 20 I might excuse the lack of knowledge, if a person over 30 claimed to be unaware of this I would call him a liar!

What measures brought in at EU level are you referring to?

I think Yurt may be raising straw men to counter because they are easier deal with than what I am saying. BEPS is easier to counter because the OECD is not an EU organization. Therefore it is easier to shoot it down. However I did not mention BEPS in my initial response.

Likewise the setting of a specific corporation tax rate for each member state by the EU. Easily shot down because it is not true.

However I never mentioned that in my initial response. What I mentioned was "measures have been brought in at the EU level to curb Ireland's some of Ireland's policies in this regard."

The specific example I gave was ATAD which I never claimed forces Ireland or any other country to set a particular corporation tax yet nevertheless has a disproportionate impact on countries with low corporation tax such as Ireland which uses it to attract inward investment.

You are however talking about the double Dutch Irish tax avoidance scheme. It was closed in 2016 (or earlier?) and in reality it was aimed at attracting the name plate businesses. I have no problem with the closing of that loophole as I think it was abhorrent, however it had little or nothing to do with the REAL companies who came to Ireland because of our workforce and access to the EU. IT manufacturers Intel, HP, Dell were among the first, the next were the IT Facebook, Google, Apple and Pharma. These were not nameplate companies, they are here because of th4e workforce Ireland provides and every other country in Europe is free to compete with us on Corporation tax rates to attract them, and in fact some have tried and failed.

No not that particular scheme which, as you point out, Ireland closed. This was most likely under pressure from member states but not specifically due to the EU as an institution.

I think you may be exaggerating the extent to which we can transpose EU legislation however it suits us. I think also you are forgetting the horse trading that goes on at the EU level and the reasons Ireland may choose to publicly vote for something when it knows it is going to go through anyway due to (qualified) majority voting.

Now we are getting into an interesting area. Apple it would appear DID use the rule. The EU (in reality Germany and France) went after them because they wanted the corporation tax receipts but the European courts ruled in favour of Ireland and Apple.

Now what I find interesting is that few people identified the real motives here. Ireland has Google, Apple, Twitter, Facebook et all because our workforce has achieved a critical mass of of expertise in the industry, the same is true of the Pharma, aviation leasing and Medical device industries.

Other EU countries have a hard time competing with us for FDI in those sectors because we have critical mass. Similarly, we cannot compete with Germany, Italy, France, Czech for car manufacture, and we cannot compete with France, Italy, Spain for wine production for obvious reasons.

France and Germany tried to make a grab for Irish corporation tax on profits generated in Ireland by Irish workforces but sold to Germany/France. I find that as abhorrent as the Double Irish Dutch sandwich, we after all do not go after Corporation tax receipts of German car manufacturers or French wine produces on their goods sold here. However, as I said the EU courts ruled in favour of Ireland in the Apple case because the EU has no Tax competences.

Agreed, both Germany and France have horrendous effective tax rates compared to their headline rates. In contrast our tax rate is very transparent! (Nor do we chase corporation tax from Lego or Carlsburg from Denmark)

Also the entire episode shows that the EU is in fact rule based and the big countries, do not as many anti EU types claim, get to rule the roost over smaller countries.