Brussels, 24/09/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 24 September, the Greens/EFA Group at the European Parliament welcomed the newly published results of the Commission's public consultation, which show that 64.5% of respondents are in favour of public reporting on a country-by-country basis - in other words, the obligation to publish information on the turnover, profits and tax paid, and other information. Out of 420 respondents, 282 agreed that their responses could be published, according to Transparency International. Of these, 187 believe that the EU could go further than the international initiatives.
The president of the Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, also recently argued the need to move forward at EU level, if the international partners refuse to follow. Among the respondents, 13 said that they were multinational companies (267 did not respond).
From the responses published, the contributions of 48 NGOs, two think-tanks and nine unions can be seen. “The Commission wanted answers. It has got them and they are unequivocal”, said Pascal Durant, co-rapporteur on the shareholders rights' directive, regarding which the European Parliament has included reporting requirements in its negotiating position. (Original version in French by Élodie Lamer)