GREEN MEP and former Stroud District Councillor Molly Scott Cato and Chris Jockel (General Election candidate) are calling on the European Council and Commission to take swift and decisive action in the wake of revelations that Luxembourg has been facilitating millions of pounds in tax evasion by multinationals. European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker was Luxembourg’s finance minister and then prime minister throughout this period.
Dr Scott Cato, who sits on the European Parliament’s Economics Committee and leads on tax policy for the Green Group, believes this is a historic moment for the fight against corporate tax dodging. She said:
“This tax avoidance probably amounts to hundreds of billion of Euros lost annually. This is a critical moment to galvanise the fight against tax evasion in Europe and beyond and the Commission must now set out a comprehensive plan of action. As Greens, we call for an extension of country-by-country tax reporting to all sectors, not just banks. We also need to see competition policy and EU state aid rules used to their full potential to crack down on tax dumping.”
Chris Jockel added:
“Corporate tax evasion and the related transfer of resources, power and control away from nation states and the people, threatens the life of our nation and our democracy. One can only assume that this menace is not making the news on every TV channel and every newspaper every day because there are vested interests who do not wish people to know the extent to which they are being robbed.”