In her speech, Mrs Scrivener pointed out that, while it was true that taxes and social security contributions were essentially a matter for the national, local or social security authorities in the Member States, their scale and variety were such that they were of interest to the Community. The Community, she said, could not ignore a phenomenon which accounted for 40% of Community GDP.
Au cours de son intervention, Mme Scrivener a indiqué que s'il est vrai que les prélèvements obligatoires relèvent pour l'essentiel des Administrations nationales, locales ou sociales des Etats membres, toutefois ils concernent la Communauté par leur ampleur et leur variété : "La Communauté ne peut pas ignorer un phénomène qui représente 40% du P.I.B. européen".