MEPs did not receive a firm commitment on Tuesday 22 October, during the debate with the Finnish Presidency of the Council of the EU, on the proposal for country-by-country reporting, which would require companies to make public certain accounting data such as their revenues, income and taxes paid (see EUROPE 11530/1).
“I’m very much aware of the importance of this file for the European Parliament (…) However, they were and still are unsolved political issues which still prevent an agreement in the Council”, said Tytti Tuppurainen, Finland's Minister for European Affairs.
She said that the EU Council would need more time to clarify its position. “Consultations with delegations are ongoing with the view to achieving further progress on the file but you will understand that I’m not in the position to make any specific commitment today”, she added.
The Finnish Presidency's response is far from satisfying the MEPs, who will adopt a resolution on Thursday 24 October asking the EU Council to adopt its position on this proposal as a matter of urgency (see EUROPE 12354/20).
“Unfortunately, your introductory remarks are not necessarily acceptable. It has been three years since the European Parliament gave its position (...) In the meantime, we have had the LuxLeaks, the Panama Papers, which have indeed made this subject a central subject in European political life”, said Stéphane Séjourné (RE, France).
Sirpa Pietikäinen (EPP, Finland) and Ernest Urtasun (Greens/EFA, Spain) called, from their side, on Member States to stop “hiding” behind the legal basis issue (see EUROPE 12179/21) to block the proposal.
Several German MEPs, including Tiemo Wölken (S&D) and Sven Giegold (Greens/EFA), also pointed to their country's responsibility in blocking the negotiations. In September, German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz announced that he had agreed with the other government SPD Ministers to support this proposal (see EUROPE 12328/26) and all are waiting to see if a change in German position will indeed take place at the EU Council Working Party meeting on Friday 25 October (see EUROPE 12349/28).
At the end of the debate, Mrs Tuppurainen said that she had taken “good note” of the concerns raised by MEPs. She tried to be a little more convincing than in her introductory speech and stressed that the Finnish Presidency was “determined” to “do its best” on this issue. As a small reassurance, she pledged to keep MEPs informed of developments in the EU Council. (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)