Tax Transparency: Socialists want to discriminate against European companies
EPP Group wants multi-national companies to disclose profit shifting to low tax countries
Dariusz Rosati MEP, the EPP Group's negotiator on new tax transparency rules for multi-national companies, has accused European Socialists of discriminating against European companies. "We want to make visible how multi-national companies shift their profits to low tax countries. But European companies doing business outside Europe must not be forced to reveal everything if competitors don't", Rosati said today in Strasbourg.
"We will vote in favour of more far-reaching tax transparency obligations than the initial draft law. But the Socialists want to jeopardise European companies. We want a safeguard clause which allows the protection of European companies outside Europe under certain cirumstances", Rosati said ahead of today's vote on the so-called public country-by-country reporting in Parliament's Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs.
European companies doing business outside Europe must not be forced to reveal everything if competitors don't.
Dariusz Rosati MEP
The safeguard clause promoted by the EPP Group provides that companies may, under strict conditions, ask for exceptions to the disclosure of certain detailed information, but such exceptions need to be justified to and approved by the European Commission every year.
"Country-by-country reporting does not fix the problem, but makes visible where the problem lies. The next thing to do is to harmonise the way corporate tax is calculated all over Europe without levelling tax rates", Rosati explained.
In the vote this evening at 19.30 hrs, Parliament will agree on its position for the forthcoming negotiations with EU Member States.
