At the Plenary, Aurora Laluk introduced an amendment to European law to combat harmful tax systems and tax centers. In the days of the echo of the Pandora Papers scandal, exactly one reform was enthusiastically adopted.

“My report, called Fatal (Framework for Aggressive Tax Adjustments and Low Rates), aims to rewrite the Code of Conduct based on the Council’s Decisions on Taxation.

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Once upon a time, the whole Parliament seemed to agree from the debate in the Plenary …

“There is a lot of consensus and cooperation in Parliament on the need to rewrite the code with some variation on the details. It is time for Parliament to intervene on such a sensitive issue. Our main message is that we need transparency.”

A few days after the release of the Pandora Papers, the Council of Europe announced the removal of three tax centers from the blacklist (now on the gray list), including the Seychelles, which also played a major role in the Panama Papers. Pandora. Not to mention the British Virgin Islands, which are not on the list and cover about three-quarters of the cases cited by Pandora.

The procedure is opaque so we need to change it. It is not clear why some sites are blacklisted by the European Union, while others are not. No one knows on what basis decisions are made. How important are the motives of some tax centers, because words are one thing and gestures of love are another. How they pulled the Seychelles off the blacklist this week is a mystery. We’re really having a process problem.

Yet Pao Gentiloni says he will introduce a reform of ghost companies early next year that will make tax evaders anonymous, and the commission said it is ready to work to avoid as much tax evasion as possible.

“The Commission and Parliament are more progressive than the Council, or heads of state who block everything.”

Meanwhile, something is moving in the World Trade and Development Organization, and the G20 countries are likely to sign a real reform of the world tax system this month.

“What happens from a taxation standpoint is very encouraging. We need to use this moment to move our reforms forward as it is a boat that carries us forward.AD: Country with 12.5% ​​corporate tax) Is part of the contract. The same attitude is required not only in the taxation of multinational corporations but also in the tax centers ….

It also exists in the US.

Especially South Dakota and Delaware. It is important to understand how Washington will deal with it. On the European side, instead of hiding the fact that there are internal tax centers like Luxembourg, we have to admit. The wind is favorable. It is important to act after this crisis. “

A handful of political leaders involved in tax scandals, such as the Czech Prime Minister Babbis and former Dutch Finance Minister Vop Hokstra, are reluctant to sign a post-epidemic recovery plan for fear of countries in southern Europe. .

“The masks have fallen. Politicians who present themselves as the most morally right are doing terrible things. They pretend to teach others lessons in economics and morality when they realize the reality that they are horribly selfish people who do not want to participate in public democratic life. Someone says it’s growing ….

What are the key points of your reform proposal?

Automatic definition of a tax system below a certain tax threshold. We need transparency. Definition of a shell company by material criteria such as production type and number of employees. “

The biggest obstacle to achieving change?

“It’s a question of unanimity in the council.