The work to crack down on tax dodging must continue: EPSU welcomes decision from the European parliament for a new special committee to investigate tax crimes

EP_Strasbourg_Hemicycle_WikiMediaCommons attribution Photo by DAVID ILIFF. License CC-BY-SA 3.0

(1st March 2018) Today the European Parliament approved a resolution to set up a special committee on financial crimes, tax evasion and tax avoidance. The new special committee will have 45 members and will be in place for 12 months.

Jan Willen Goudriaan, EPSU Secretary General commented on the EP decision: “as trade unions, we are committed to make multinationals and wealthy individuals pay their fair share of taxes. This is why we welcome the decision to establish a special committee on tax fraud and tax evasion, building on the work already done  by the Taxe1, Taxe2 committees and the Panama Papers inquiry. We now expect the committee to focus on effective implementation, to monitor the impact of the recommendations the Parliament has put forward as well as to put pressure on member states to deliver results”.

EU member states lose up to 1 trillion Euros in tax evasion and avoidance each year – Goudriaan continued – this is why we believe it should be one of the highest priorities for governments throughout the EU”.

EPSU will send this letter to the appointed members of the Committee to outline the main priorities to crack down on tax evasion and tax dodging practices.

For the EP proposal for a decision on setting up a special committee on financial crimes, tax evasion and tax avoidance, and defining its responsibilities, numerical strength and term of office_26.2.2018