After a year and a half of investigations into the Panama Papers scandal, the problems appeared when the finishing line was in sight. The European Parliament's vote on the recommendations of the committee of investigation of the same name, on Wednesday 13 December, saw the MEPs, under the impetus of the right wing, take a step backwards over a number of points: all of the amendments of the EPP group to the text as adopted by the parliamentary committee were approved.
For instance, whereas the report voted on in committee called upon the MEPs to prohibit the opening of financial accounts or shell companies by certain citizens in tax havens in which they are not resident, the adoption of an EPP amendment (476 votes to 141 and 51 abstentions) now calls upon the Commission and the member states to carry out an impact assessment into the possibility of compulsory registration or a prohibition on being the beneficial owner of financial accounts or shell companies in countries on the European blacklist of non-cooperative jurisdictions and the blacklist related to the money laundering directive.
Furthermore, the text adopted in committee recommended that entities creating an offshore structure be required to provide the competent authorities with legitimate reasons for creating this structure, in order to guarantee that offshore accounts in question are not being used for the purposes of money laundering or taxation. The EPP amendment adopted (474 votes to 177 and 33 abstentions) goes no further, in this regard, then to remind the member states of the importance of the general anti-abuse rules and encourages the member states to make use of these.
Finally, another EPP amendment (adopted by 370 votes to 277 with 21 abstentions) removes the call for a minimum effective taxation rate and the addition to the blacklist of tax havens of any member state that is considered to meet the criteria to be on it. Now, the Commission is called upon to draw up a report by the end of 2018 assessing the various tax regimes of the member states and their dependent territories.
“In spite of tight voting and a few quarrels, we can be pleased with the result”, said the EPP chair of the Panama Papers committee, Werner Langen. In the report, four-member states were referred to as tax havens. “This was rejected, because we had a stalemate”, explained the co-rapporteur, Jeppe Kofod (S&D, Denmark). The recommendation was rejected with 327 votes in favour and 327 votes against.
“I do not think that the European countries (in question) could really be included on the EU blacklist on the basis of its criteria. However, it is true that there are troubling elements; this is why we have called for increased vigilance” concerning the member states, said the other co-rapporteur, Petr Jezek (ALDE). Astonishingly, an EFDD amendment referring to the Oxfam blacklist, which features these four European countries, was adopted.
The Greens/EFA group, which was behind most of the defeated recommendations, generally welcomed the outcome of the vote.
The recommendations include an appeal to the Commission to make use of article 116 the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union to get around unanimity on taxation matters, to update the definition of the taxable presence of a company to deal with the question of the digital economy, to present a legislative proposal to tackle 'letterbox companies', a European definition of tax crimes and a proposal to separate the accountancy and tax advisory activities of accountants.
A special committee on the Paradise Papers scandal is expected to take over in 2018. The debate on setting up a permanent committee has also been launched.
The recommendations were adopted by 492 votes to 50 and 136 abstentions. (Original version in French by Élodie Lamer)