This morning the European Parliament’s committee of inquiry into money laundering, tax avoidance and tax evasion (PANA) – set up after pressure from the S&D Group – kicked off its work with a first public hearing.

“It’s huge, we knew it” explains Ana Gomes, S&D MEP and vice-chair of the PANA inquiry committee, but “the Panama Papers led us to another level”, showing that even the anonymity of individuals indulging in tax avoidance was guaranteed.

The journalists behind the revelations, members of the International Consortium for Investigative Journalism, discussed their work on the files and shared some of their key findings in the specific countries they focused on.

The protection of whistleblowers was also raised at the hearing. S&D MEP Virginie Rozière explains how the S&Ds aim to guarantee protection for sources that reveal data, information and scandals in the public interest.