The special committee in the European Parliament which investigates tax avoidance across Europe will continue with a new, broader mandate - as of today and for six months. This was agreed on Wednesday (2 December 2015) by the leaders of all political groups and the president of the European Parliament. The new mandate, which was drafted by the S&D Group, will be submitted to a vote in the European Parliament's Plenary later today.
S&D Group spokesperson on the TAXE committee, Peter Simon, said:
"I am satisfied that all political groups agree on our proposal for a new mandate for the TAXE committee. Now, the special committee cannot only continue its work as planned, but is now even able to base its investigations on a significantly stronger mandate.
"In spite of all prophecies of doom there will not be a 'special committee light' but a 'special committee plus'. The new mandate enables us not only to continue seamlessly and immediately with our work but also to further increase the pressure on the EU Commission and the member states. In addition to the completions of the work of the TAXE I committee, such as the analysis of documents that have so far been kept from us, as well as the evaluation of the hearings with multinational companies, a new emphasis of our committee work will be on critically monitoring the implementation of our demands made in the Final Report of the TAXE I committee.
"We already provided the diagnosis as well as a comprehensive recipe for counter-measures. Now it is up to the EU Commission and the member states to introduce effective rules against such dubious tax practices."
