Brussels, 11/02/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 11 February, the Greek Presidency continued negotiations with representatives of the European Parliament on draft legislation to introduce greater transparency over social and environmental issues for balance sheets of big companies in Europe.
Germany is taking a highly ambivalent approach to the question, with reservations about the legislation as a whole and merely tolerating the fact that the Greek Presidency has been given an amended mandate for the talks with the EP and for briefing the member state, according to a European source who is of the view that agreement will not be possible on Tuesday, although it may be forthcoming before the end of the current European Parliament. Like other countries, the United Kingdom for instance, Germany says the scope of application must be restricted to European
companies quoted on the stock exchange, rather than all companies employing more than 500 staff as the European Parliament demands and the initial draft published by the European Commission suggests
(see EUROPE 10828).
Germany, the UK and Ireland do not want companies to be forced to give a country-by-country breakdown of their tax payments on their balance sheets. This idea was not included in the initial draft, but was introduced by countries like France in line with the conclusions document of the European summit of May 2013 that state that this type of measure is a target for the European Union to introduce. Retreating from a member states' earlier position, a draft compromise simply suggests adding a clause to examine the matter in 2018, when the European Commission would carry out an impact study to assess the question and when work at the OECD and G8 is forthcoming on the question of transparency. The source says the EP would see this as a good solution. (MB/transl.fl)