Debate during the plenary session of July in Strasbourg on the Tax rulings and other measures similar in nature or effect (TAXE 2):. Statements by Jeppe KOFOD (S&amp;D, DK), Rapporteur, Michael THEURER (ALDE, DE), Rapporteur, Pierre MOSCOVICI, Member of the EC in charge of Economic and Financial Affairs, Taxation and Customs, Danuta Maria H&Uuml;BNER (EPP, PL), Peter SIMON (S&amp;D, DE), Bernd LUCKE (ECR, DE), Nils TORVALDS (ALDE, FI) and Philippe LAMBERTS (Greens/EFA, BE).

Strasbourg

debate

LAMBERTS, Philippe (Greens/EFA, BE)

KOFOD, Jeppe (S&D, DK)

HÜBNER, Danuta Maria (EPP, PL)

fight against tax fraud and evasion (T)

SIMON, Peter (S&D, DE)

LUCKE, Bernd (ECR, DE)

MOSCOVICI, Pierre (PSE, FR, EC)

TORVALDS, Nils (Renew, FI)

THEURER, Michael (ALDE, DE)

Special Committee on Tax Rulings and Other Measures Similar in Nature or Effect

Tax rulings and other measures similar in nature or effect (TAXE 2): extracts from the debate

SOUNDBITE (English), Jeppe KOFOD (S&amp;D, DK), Rapporteur, For this report using only four words it will be, expose, disclose, punish and protect. In reverse order, we need to protect whistle blowers, we need to punish those who profit from illegal tax construction, we also need automatic and mandatory systems to share and disclose our own data, and we need to expose the general practices of the industry of tax avoidance.

SOUNDBITE (English), Jeppe KOFOD (S&amp;D, DK), Rapporteur, Europe is an economic superpower and only together we can bring tax heavens to change their ways, together we have entered into ground breaking new agreement with Switzerland Lichtenstein, San Moreno and Monaco. Together as an EU we are on the brink of doing away with banking secrecy in Europe. No single European nation, no matter how large can bring about this change on its own.

SOUNDBITE (English), Jeppe KOFOD (S&amp;D, DK), Rapporteur, Today, Mr. Commissioner I am calling for EU register on beneficial ownership to form the basis of a global register and for the Commission to give serious consideration to the idea of global register of financial assets.

SOUNDBITE (German), Michael THEURER (ALDE, DE), Rapporteur, Experts reckon that over 200 billion euros are being lost from the taxman because of tax evasion around the world. And this is very important. The thing is, we cannot have a baker in Strasbourg or Karlsruhe pay tax and the big multinationals not doing so.

SOUNDBITE (French), Pierre MOSCOVICI, Member of the EC in charge of Economic and Financial Affairs, Taxation and Customs, Since the first day I took office I have been in favour of Country-by-country reporting on a public basis. This has got to come above everything else. In April, we published obligations for Country specific reporting for multinationals, and Mr. Lamberts wanted to go even further than that, but it is now up to the Council.

SOUNDBITE (French), Pierre MOSCOVICI, Member of the EC in charge of Economic and Financial Affairs, Taxation and Customs, The last initiative, presented today, is to allow key information on beneficial owners to be accessed to ensure that there is reinforced surveillance of what is happening, and that ties into what G20 and G7 want.

SOUNDBITE (French), Pierre MOSCOVICI, Member of the EC in charge of Economic and Financial Affairs, Taxation and Customs, Our initiatives to fight tax avoidance and tax evasion include external measures to ensure that there is good fiscal governance beyond the Single Market, and clamp down on countries that are not playing by the rules of the game. So we want a common list among the European Union on uncooperative tax jurisdictions across the world, there will be a blacklist of tax havens as well.

SOUNDBITE (English), Danuta Maria H&#220;BNER (EPP, PL), When as European Union we plan to go further than OECD, we must to make sure that our ambition is not to depart from those recommendations but to build upon them.

SOUNDBITE (German), Peter SIMON (S&amp;D, DE), The Member States, unless we put pressure on them on behalf of the people as we have in the last 18 months; the Member States Governments would never have as willing to go as far as they are willing to go now in the presence of legislative procedure. But this is not enough. When the Commission puts forward its proposals, we can see the Member States seek to weaken them at various points, so we need to keep the pressure on the Member States and indeed increase it, ladies and gentlemen, this is important.

SOUNDBITE (German), Bernd LUCKE (ECR, DE), The Whistle blowers are the one that have been convicted, people that are avoiding taxes continue to be free, it is the whistle blowers who go to prison and the tax avoiders don't, that is a terrible state of affairs and the report needs to ensure that this never happens again.

SOUNDBITE (English), Nils TORVALDS (ALDE, FI), In the review that we carried out, it turned out that the big problem was the beneficial ownership of the UK. The structures of different foundations that the UK has built up during centuries. We know that this is one of the fundamental parts of the system of tax avoidance that exists in the world, and for that reason I think that we today can say we are going to turn Brexit intoTaxit.

SOUNDBITE (French), Philippe LAMBERTS (Greens/EFA, BE), I am addressing my colleagues in the EPP: Do you really want to fight against tax fraud and evasion or do you want to make it seem like this is what you want to do; because obviously it is not very fair to have the SMEs to foot the bill for tax evasion.