Brussels, 24/02/2015 (Agence Europe) - A tough battle is expected at the European Parliament on the revision of the directive on shareholder rights in European companies quoted on the stock exchange.
No fewer than 400 amendments have been submitted for this legislative project that seeks to increase the number of shareholders in long-term investments. The Greens intend to use this work to introduce greater tax transparency, in response to the LuxLeaks scandal. They should be able to count on support from the Socialists in a confrontation with the Christian Democrats.
On Tuesday 24 February, the legal affairs committee (JURI) proceeded to a preliminary examination of the amendment submitted to the draft project from Sergio Gaetano Cofferati (S&D, Italy). Obtaining a compromise is not going to be easy. The rapporteur is seeking to obtain clear modalities for identifying shareholders. It is also keen on the Commission proposal for a binding vote by shareholders on the pay of the directors of the companies affected and a consultative vote on pay policy. It is also proposing that employees are involved in shareholder discussions on directors' pay.
The rapporteur supports the amendment that seeks to compel companies quoted on the stock exchange to provide tax information in each country. These amendments were put forward by the Greens and sought to disclose the tax regimes from which companies benefit, as well as provide a response to the problem of tax havens as revealed by the LuxLeaks affair. The Socialists and Liberals submitted more general amendments in this connection.
The EPP is opposed to such a mechanism, Giovanni Toti (EPP, Italy) said that it was “totally inappropriate”. Jean-Marie Cavada (ALDE, France) said: “Disclosing tax information would be a strategic mistake”. Pascal Durand from France is the author of many amendments from the Greens and he called on the EPP to ensure that “practices change and that taxes go to where they are needed”. He will be able to count on support from Evelyne Regner (S&D, Austria), for whom, “everything debated in other parliamentary committees on tax evasion and fiscal fraud, could be resolved in this directive”.
The rapporteur will find it tough to reconcile very rigid points of view by the time of the JURI committee vote on 23 March. These differences were illustrated during the vote for an opinion on the legislative proposal at the economic affairs committee. On Tuesday, the latter took note of the amendments from the Greens for greater tax transparency on the basis of a minimum vote. (Marie-Pauline Desset and Élodie Lamer)