Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2012-04-18-Speech-3-435-000"
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"en.20120418.22.3-435-000"2
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"Mr President, Minister, honourable Members, this has been a most timely and constructive debate. I have listened attentively to the many views expressed and I am encouraged in my determination to push for further action against tax fraud and tax evasion by your clearly articulated concerns.
The Heads of State or Government have clearly indicated the importance they attach to concrete action in this area. The challenge is to translate this political wish into real action on the ground.
Effective tax systems require many things, such as good design, effective controls and strong administrations. These are elements that Member States need to reflect on, over and above the traditional Union concerns about cross-border issues on tax. I believe that we now have the opportunity, with the European Semester process this year, to put these issues clearly at the centre of the economic governance agenda, and I will be advocating this strongly in the coming months.
I have two important priorities. Firstly, I wish to ensure that the Commission’s report to the European Council in June provides a sound and realistic basis for further work. It is important to mobilise finance ministers to tackle the important issues concerning tax fraud and evasion. Secondly, I will, over the coming months, be developing my ideas for the initiative I am planning on tax havens and aggressive tax planning.
You have provided me today with an extensive list of concerns and ideas. Many of you referred to the issue of agreement with Switzerland, and I am looking forward to the efforts of the Danish Presidency to finalise this point and pave the way for the Commission to negotiate with Switzerland and to give our Member States the possibility to collect the money that they deserve.
Many of you spoke about issues of aggressive tax planning. This is also on the Commission’s agenda for this year, and we will put forward concrete initiatives on how to tackle this problem. On sharing good practices, I have to say that we have a specific structure for this: a tax policy group that was established by the Commission. In this forum, we invite Member States to share their good practices, in order to be able to use these practices in other Member States.
Mr Bullmann raised the issue of the United States’ ability to fight against tax fraud. I would not agree that we are worse than the United States. Actually, we are working in very close cooperation with the United States in promoting standards of exchange of information around the globe, and I hope that this cooperation will provide good results, not only in our relationship with Switzerland, but also with other third countries.
I will also be engaging with stakeholders on this issue and building on the current public consultation on cases of double non-taxation. The support of Parliament is essential if we are to progress, both in providing political leadership and in supporting appropriate Commission legislative initiatives.
To conclude, Mr President, honourable Members, Minister, I am pleased to have been able to contribute to today’s debate. I have appreciated your insights and I look forward to further opportunities to debate this important issue."@en1
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