The Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament are pleased that the European Commission is taking account of harmful tax practices in its economic recommendations to member states.

 

 

“For many years, the S&D Group has been calling on the Commission to consider the impact of harmful tax practices in its assessment of the economic performances of member states, in the framework of the so-called European Semester. Today, the Commission has delivered, and this is really good news.

 

“The different tax scandals, such as the Luxleaks or the Paradise and Panama Papers, have revealed the damage caused by the unhealthy race to the bottom on tax between member states. Competition between member states, for instance through tax rulings or specialised tax schemes, must stop. The EU is losing between 50 and 70 billion euros a year in tax revenues.

“In the last 4 years, we have made progress to fix the problem by increasing tax transparency and improving the exchange of information between national authorities. But the fight is far from over. Next week, the European Parliament will have the chance to take another big step towards tax justice. Next week in Strasbourg, our group will back ambitious proposals to harmonise corporate taxation in Europe. We stand for tax justice in Europe for the benefit of our citizens.”