EUROsociAL Programme for social cohesion in Latin America

Transcription

1 EUROsociAL Programme for social cohesion in Latin America Taxation Sector International Tax Compact Core Group Meeting 23 February,

2 Main facts EUROsociAL I / Fiscal Sector: EC contribution: 8 millions (80% of total budget) Consortium: led by the Institute for Fiscal Studies, Spain, and composed of 9 Partners and 3 Associates. Objective: contribute to the strengthening and modernisation of the fiscal system in Latin American countries and encourage an efficient, effective, transparent and fair taxation as a tool for the eradication of poverty and inequality. Main stakeholders: public administrations of the EU MS and 18 LA countries: Fiscal and Customs administrations, Ministries of Finance, Budget Commission of National Parliaments, Courts of Auditors, Social Security Funds, etc. Main fields: design and implementation of fiscal policies that promote social cohesion; institutional strengthening of tax administrations and their human resources; territorial financing and social security. Working methods: political awareness raising, exchange of experiences, technical assistance, pilot projects. Partner institutions: Fundación Centro de Educación a Distancia para el Desarrollo Económico y Tecnológico (CEDDET), Spain; Assistance au Développement des Échanges en Technologies Économiques et Financières (ADETEF), France; InWEnt, Capacity Building International, Germany; Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), United Kingdom; Centro Interamericano de Administraciones Tributarias (CIAT); Administración Federal de Ingresos Públicos (AFIP), Argentina; Secretaria da Receita federal, Brazil; Dirección de Impuestos y Aduanas Nacionales (DIAN), Colombia; Servicio de Administración Tributaria (SAT), Mexico) Associates: Organización Iberoamericana de Seguridad Social (OISS); Agencia Estatal de Administración Tributaria (AEAT), Spain; Instituto Centroamericano de Administración Pública (ICAP) 2

3 EUROsociAL Taxation : Main Results 142 activities / 4138 participants from 775 public institutions (527 from LA, 176 form the EU MS and 72 from international organisations). Main Results at regional level: Establishment of 2 regional thematic networks: 1. Network for Fiscal Education: used by public servants of 48 Ministries of Finance and Education from LA and Caribbean countries, Spain and Italy; 2. Network for Electronic Administration (AEFIS) used by EU and Latin American fiscal administrations. Studies financed by the Programme (available at: such as: 1. Volatility, Cycle and Fiscal Policies in Latin America (Volatilidad, Ciclo y Política Fiscal en América Latina), 2009; 2. Recuperation of fiscal debt in Latin America (La recuperación de la deuda tributaria en América Latina), 2009; 3. Fiscal Systems in Latin Amercia state of play, reforms and policies to promote social cohesion (Sistemas Tributarios de América Latina Situación actual, reformas y políticas para promover la cohesión social), 2009; 3

4 Case Study Pilot Project for the design and implementation of the National Programme on Fiscal Education in El Salvador (Coordinated by the Institute for Fiscal Studies and implemented with technical assistance of the Department for Fiscal Education of the Federal Administration for Public Income, Argentina) Components: 1. Component 1: Definition of a strategy on fiscal education by the Ministry of Finance of El Salvador (formulation of the pilot programme on fiscal education, constitution and training of a team within the Directory General for Internal Taxation, training of teachers from the Ministry of Education all over the country), 2. Component 2: Cooperation between the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Education (formulation and introduction of fiscal education to official curriculum for students of age 9 to 15, elaboration of didactic material: books, booklets, videogames, manuals for teachers, introduction of a technical curriculum on Fiscal Education) 3. Component 3: Setting up of a centre of fiscal education in the premises of the Ministry of Finance (the first and a unique centre of this kind in LA) 4. Component 4: Launching of the web page on fiscal education Other LA fiscal administrations have expressed their interest in learning more about this experience and in exploring possibilities to transfer it to their respective countries 4

5 EUROsociAL Taxation : Lessons learnt The modernisation of public finances systems of LA States (revenue rising and public spending) is one of the core issues of the political agenda for the majority of the governments of the region; The EUROsociAL Taxation Sector concentrated its activities on fiscal policies and less on public spending; One of the main achievements of the Programme: contribution to induce cultural changes when the fiscal administrations perceive tax payers as their allies and facilitate a voluntary accomplishment of fiscal obligations; The South South cooperation promoted by the Programme was highly appreciated by the participants; Close coordination with international organisations such as ECLAC, UNDP, BID represented a real added value to the Programme activities. 5

6 Next steps: EUROsociAL II EUROsociAL II Programme launched in 2011 for a duration of 4 years; General objective: To support national public policies aiming at increasing the level of social cohesion and to strengthen the institutions responsible of their implementation; EC contribution: 40 millions (100% of the total budget); The Programme will be implemented by a consortium led by FIIAPP and composed of 43 EU MS and LA partners; Fiscal systems and public finances which facilitate the redistribution and efficiency of expenditure is one of the 5 priority fields of the Programme; The Programme will continue promoting the establishment of institutional partnerships between EU and LA public administrations through peer to peer cooperation; EUROsociAL will be based on the demand driven approach and will support actions directly linked to political priorities of LA governments. 6