Immediate European action imperative to put an end to the Pandora papers scandal
By Linda Aziz-Rohlje
Urgent measures are needed in order to close legal loopholes, address divergences and inconsistencies of implementation practices which to date enables massive money laundering, tax evasion and tax avoidance by world leaders. Among them are current and former prime ministers, presidents and heads of state, billionaires, celebrities and business leaders, recently revealed by the Pandora Papers investigation. Renew Europe welcomes the adoption of the resolution voted Thursday afternoon in Plenary.
Luis Garicano, Renew Europe’s Economic affairs negotiator, says:
“Setting up offshore companies is too easy, too cheap and, in many cases, even legal. Tax havens shield the owners’ identities. They make life miserable for law enforcement and investigators. The money trail goes cold, and criminal proceeds are laundered with impunity. The Commission responded to these revelations with the biggest overhaul of our anti-money laundering framework. It was announced barely a few months ago and it still is not enough.”
Ramona Strugariu, Renew Europe’s Civil liberties negotiator says:
“I welcome the fact that the resolution highlights the role of international investigative journalism and whistle-blowers in exposing corruption, organised crime, and money laundering. Without them, our democracies would die and we need to protect them. I call on each and every Member State to proactively address these revelations, to thoroughly analyse and investigate the datasets revealed in the Pandora papers and initiate audit procedures on all individuals mentioned.”
Gilles Boyer, Renew Europe’s Tax Matters negotiator, says:
“These new revelations undermine citizens’ trust in transparent and fair tax systems. We urgently need to make the EU list of tax havens more stringent, credible and thus coercive”.
Yesterday, in two consecutive Plenary debates, Members raised how to improve the European Union’s fight against money-laundering and reviewed the recent OECD agreement on corporate taxation, foreseen to be be endorsed at summit of G20 leaders in Rome at the end of the month. The Pandora papers were debated last plenary session, the 6th of October.
