The OMC, Intelligent Accountability and the Monitoring of National Tax Authorities

Abstract

EU governance is not straightforward. Novel supranational methods of checking compliance with the panoply of EU Membership responsibilities therefore are needed. The open method of co-ordination (OMC) – inappropriately named given that ‘coordination’ is at best the result of second order effects – is one such example of a distinctly supranational method of holding Member States to account. This article argues that the OMC should be used in respect of the collection of taxes due by large taxpayers. In doing so, the article argues that tax collection practices should be monitored at the EU level. It further defends the use of the OMC by demonstrating that OMC initiatives can engender a desirable form of accountability, namely ‘intelligent accountability’.