Tax Rulings Committee Chairman Lamassoure: 'This is about transparency and justice'

Parliament’s newly-established Special Committee on Tax Rulings elected Alain Lamassoure (pictured) (EPP, FR) as its chair at its constituent meeting on Thursday (26 February) morning. As vice-chairs, the committee elected Bernd Lucke (ECR, DE), Marisa Matias (GUE/NGL, PT) and Eva Joly (Greens/EFA, FR).Rapporteurs will be appointed on 9 March.

"We have an important mission. We need results and we need them fast", said Lamassoure in his acceptance speech. He urged committee members "to seize the momentum of press revelations”, also known as 'Luxleaks'."The task ahead of us is not related either to our political orientations or to the countries we represent. This is about transparency and justice. These are our shared concern and we have to work on them in the best possible spirit", he added.

 Mandate

The committee will look into EU member states’ tax rulings as far back as 1 January 1991, but will also review how the European Commission treats their existing state aid arrangements and how transparent they are about their tax rulings. Moreover, the committee will seek to establish any negative effects that aggressive tax planning has had on public finances and will deliver recommendations for the future. See also the full text of the mandate.

Background

 The committee was set up in the wake of a series of investigations launched by the European Commission into tax rulings for multinational companies in Luxembourg, Ireland and the Netherlands.

Links

 The resolution establishing the special committee, its mandate and composition (click on 12.02.2015)

Rules for setting-up a special committee (art. 197 Rules of Procedure)

Profile Alain Lamassoure (EPP, FR)

Profile Bernd Lucke (ECR, DE)

Profile Marisa Matias (GUE/NGL, PT)

Profile Eva Joly (Greens/EFA, FR)

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