Brussels, 19/10/2015 (Agence Europe) - The delegation of the German political party SPD at the European Parliament has written to around a dozen multinationals which refused to appear before the special TAXE committee, to explain that its members had been requested not to accept invitations from them.
For different reasons, many multinationals refused to appear before this special committee to discuss the taxation policies and practices of these companies. IKEA, for instance, refused to appear before the TAXE committee, but recently invited the MEPs to attend a working lunch to discuss ways of making the international taxation system fairer and more transparent.
The letter, which was sent to Amazon, Anheuser-Busch InBev, Barclays Bank Group, Coca-Cola, Facebook, FIAT-Chrysler Automobiles, Google, HSBC Bank, IKEA, McDonald's, Philip Morris, Walmart and Walt Disney, and of which EUROPE has had sight, makes the point that the members of the SPD at the European Parliament have always interacted with representatives of these companies in an open and respectful way. “We, however, expect the same fair and respectful interaction from our counterparts”, write Udo Bullmann and Peter Simon, head of the SPD delegation to the EP and coordinator of the TAXE committee for the S&D respectively. “On that account, and for the time being, we have to caution our members and their staff against accepting invitations and meeting requests by your company or any agents acting on your behalf”, they continue.
“As long as the multinationals do not change their behaviour, we will uphold the ban on any interaction with them”, Peter Simon told EUROPE. He has urged the other political groups to follow suit, to show that they “also consider such disrespect towards the European Parliament unacceptable”.
The TAXE committee, for its part, decided last week to give the multinationals one last chance to cooperate, re-inviting them for 16 November. Its draft report is to be voted on by the committee on 26 October and at the second November plenary session. (Original version in French by Elodie Lamer)