EU leaders look to digital future

So far about a dozen of the EU’s 28 member states have signed on to the idea, though many urge action to take place on a global level, instead of just in Europe.

But smaller EU states have expressed strong resistance to the idea, which they say will chase US tech giants from their shores, especially Ireland, which serves as a low-tax hub for Apple, Facebook and Google.

The hope is to have a formal proposal by December that would be made into law in 2018.

– Tax fights –

Britain meanwhile has warned that the new tax may anger Washington, which could abandon tax reform in retaliation.

Several national authorities in the EU have opened up tax fights with Google, Airbnb and other Internet giants.

The discussion on a digital tax is one component of a full day of talks by EU leaders that will also touch upon cybersecurity and the free flow of data in the Europe.

The two-day meeting in Estonia was originally intended to chart out a digital future for the continent but became upstaged by more down-to-earth issues including Brexit and the unexpected rise of the far right in Germany.

Estonia, which holds the EU’s six-month rotating presidency, bills itself as among the avant-garde of the digital revolution and called the talks to help bring the rest of the bloc up to speed.

Formerly part of the Soviet Union, Estonia has reinvented itself by taking a jump to the digital world, modernising and digitising all aspects of public life.