Barroso: EU needs to work on 'complex' tax matter

The President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso has said all EU Governments have agreed to ensure no loopholes exist to allow companies exploit tax laws.

It follows revelations that Apple has paid less than 2% tax on billions of euro of global sales put through Irish operations.

It has led to American Senators describing Ireland as "a tax haven", something rejected by the Government.

The Taoiseach is attending a European Council summit in Brussels on tax evasion.

Mr Barroso said, while specific issues were not discussed, there is agreement that no exploitation of different tax regimes in different states can happen.

He said: "The behaviour of some companies in respect of the legislation is indeed taking advatage of many loopholes that exist, also because of different national regimes

"This is why we need work on this extremely complex matter in order to avoid these kind of harmful tax measures or aggressive tax planning."