Germany’s finance minister Peer Steinbrueck wants to curtail tax competition by prohibiting countries from having corporate tax rates of less than 30 percent. Since German politicians have been whining about competition from low-tax nations in Eastern Europe for quite some time, this is hardly news.

But this new round of sour grapes is particularly amusing because Herr Steinbrueck is trying to close the barn door when the horses are galloping in the fields. The average corporate tax rate in the European Union already has fallen to about 24 percent and more corporate tax cuts are about to take effect — including a tax rate reduction in Germany.

Bloomberg reports:

The European Union needs a “level playing field” in areas including tax competition…if there is to be greater integration among member states, German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck said. A “race to the bottom” regarding…taxes, social and environmental standards risks discrediting the idea of a more united Europe among the continent’s citizens, Steinbrueck said in a speech prepared for delivery today in Frankfurt an der Oder, on the eastern German border with Poland.

…The average corporate tax rate in Europe shouldn’t fall below the threshold of just under 30 percent, which will go into effect in Germany next year, Steinbrueck said. Eastern European governments…can’t finance the infrastructure demanded by their citizens if taxes are lowered too much, he said.