tax cooperation

There are a bunch of interesting things in the Treasury's review of the internal market (which comes ahead of the Commission's own review in March).

What exactly is this passage on tax "cooperation" about?

Looking ahead, in an increasingly global economy, no country will be able to set its tax policy in isolation from other countries and so cooperation between countries in the EU and elsewhere will important in ensuring that national tax systems can coexist effectively. This will involve continuously working together to drive down costs to business, improve transparency, exchange information and tackle fraud. The key is to preserve national flexibility, while strengthening the effective cooperation between Member States, rather than creating rigid structures incapable of adapting to the evolving demands of globalisation.

It's certainly a change from Gordon Brown's previous attitude to tax coordination (i.e. "no, no, no"). Presumably they are trying to play nice because they need the Commission's permission to take action on VAT carousel fraud.