Public Hearing organised by the TAXE Committee, on Tax Rulings and Harmful Tax Practices in the EP in Brussels .&nbsp;Statements by Richard BROOKS, Investigative Journalist (ICIJ), TIME, Edouard PERRIN, Investigative Journalist (ICIJ), Michael THEURER (ALDE, DE), Frank ENGEL (EPP, LU), Jeppe KOFOD (S&amp;D, DK), Alain LAMASSOURE (EPP, FR), Fabio DE MASI (GUE/NGL, DE) and Marco VALLI (EFDD, IT)

Brussels

KOFOD, Jeppe (S&D, DK)

fight against tax fraud and evasion (T)

public hearing

VALLI, Marco (EFDD, IT)

ENGEL, Frank (EPP, LU)

LAMASSOURE, Alain (EPP, FR)

DE MASI, Fabio (GUE/NGL, DE)

THEURER, Michael (ALDE, DE)

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

Public Hearing on Tax Rulings and Harmful Tax Practices: extracts from the Hearing

SOUNDBITE (French), Edouard PERRIN, Investigative Journalist (ICIJ), "There was no political reaction. no reaction. None."

SOUNDBITE (French), Edouard PERRIN, Investigative Journalist (ICIJ), "I deepy regret that the European Parliament wasn't able to go as far as it could have to launch an investigation committee, with all the means."

SOUNDBITE (English), Richard BROOKS, Investigative Journalist (ICIJ), TIME, "The central problem with Luxembourg is that it mascarates as a responsible economic authority, whilst acting as a tax haven at the heart of Europe. But, more damagingly than what you would recognise, as sunny island palm-fringed tax havens. And it enjoys the privileges of being a fully paid up member of all the major economic clubs like the European Union and the OECD".

SOUNDBITE (English), Richard BROOKS , Investigative Journalist (ICIJ), TIME, "The methods used, the myriad methods: hybrid loans, Swiss branches... there's all kinds of weird and wonderful structures. But they all directed at the single purpose of achieving effectively non-taxation in Luxembourg".

SOUNDBITE (English), Richard BROOKS, Investigative Journalist (ICIJ), TIME, "There needs to be greater disclosure of tax agreements within Europe, they should be fully open, preferably, with companies named but, if not, anonymised, and most importantly, in the absence of the OECD providing a full solution to this question of international tax avoidance, there need to be sanctions applied within Europe for those who exploit the freedoms afforded by the European treaty".

SOUNDBITE (German), Michael THEURER (ALDE, DE), "In my opinion, it is incomprehensible that a citizen that informs the authorities of a Member State of the EU about tax avoidance can then be prosecuted in another Eu country, that  contradicts any sense of justice".

SOUNDBITE (French), Edouard PERRIN, Investigative Journalist (ICIJ), "It's symptomatic and dramatic at the same time to see that, in this affair, the only existing prosecutions are, to this date, the ones directed against those who uncovered the problem and not against the source of the problem."

SOUNDBITE (French), Frank ENGEL (EPP, LU), "In the end, there are some that would like to simply close the financial centres and companies will then stay out (of the EU) because nobody believes that Shanghai will give upon a competition that could be very lucrative for them, if we in Europe start to hunt the decision centres of companies."

SOUNDBITE (English), Jeppe KOFOD (S&amp;D, DK), "A country should not be able to charge a journalist for revealing this information while there's an ongoing case, this should be impossible in my opinion, so I think it's really a scandal that Luxembourg is making these charges against you".

SOUNDBITE (French), Alain LAMASSOURE (EPP, FR), "Within the Union, each of the 28 Member States is the tax haven of some of the others."

SOUNDBITE (German), Fabio DE MASI (GUE/NGL, DE), "My impression here is that, the majority is not worried about protecting whistle blowers or journalists at their work but about protecting Juncker."

SOUNDBITE (Italian), Marco VALLI (EFDD, IT), "I'd like to express my opinion on the very sterile proposal of the (European) Commission. And I wonder whether the Juncker Commission will get anything more concrete to eliminate this problem".

SOUNDBITE (French), Edouard PERRIN, Investigative Journalist (ICIJ), "The first step would be to really have a consistent work between what's going on here and what the European Commission will do, concerning the (new) Directive on Trade Secrets".