Minister for Finance Brian Cowen delivered a robust defence of Irish corporate tax policy in the face of mounting pressure from France and Germany for greater EU tax harmonisation.

Mr Cowen was supported by several states from central and eastern Europe and Britain, which also oppose any move to co-ordinate tax on company profits in the EU.

At a meeting of European finance ministers in Brussels, Mr Cowen spoke out against plans by the current holder of the EU presidency, Germany, to prioritise a proposal to harmonise the corporate tax base in the EU. He also deflected any implied criticism of Ireland's tax code, which offers some of the lowest corporate tax rates in Europe.

"Our taxation rates are perfectly in accordance with rules on state aid and codes of conduct and rulings of the Court of Justice," said Mr Cowen. "These are political decisions taken at a national level. We're bound by the same rules as everyone else."

Berlin and Paris both attempted to table conclusions for an EU leaders summit next week that would have given political momentum to the European Commission's proposal to create a single standard for calculating tax on profits from companies.

"It is necessary to work towards harmonising the tax base for businesses," said French finance minister Thierry Breton, who has been a strong critic of member states that use very low corporate tax rates to attract inward investment.

The commission is preparing its proposal to harmonise the corporate tax base in the EU. It says this would make life easier for multinational firms to operate in Europe by creating a single and simpler way of calculating corporate tax on profits. Currently there are 27 different ways of calculating corporate tax in the EU.

But critics oppose it because they feel it would mark a first step towards introducing a single EU corporate tax rate. They also fear the encroachment of the commission into tax, which is traditionally an area of national competence.

At the Ecofin meeting, Mr Cowen and several finance ministers from low tax countries in central Europe opposed the draft conclusions in a debate and forced the presidency to adopt a compromise text that watered down its call for closer EU tax co-ordination. Mr Cowen said the proposal was not a priority because no formal position had yet been presented by the commission to member states.