(June 9, 2015)

Earlier today we reported about the multinational corporations that were invited to the Special Committee’s Hearings/Meetings (See our Article from earlier today). According to the European Parliament from the 15 multinational corporations that were invited as per June 5, 2015 only one has accepted the invitation, 7 have declined the invitation and 7 have not formally replied yet. On the afternoon of June 9, 2015 a press release titled “MEPs regret that multinationals are “unable” to meet the Tax Rulings Committee” was published on the website of the European Parliament.

According to the press release: “MEPs regret that multinationals – the usual beneficiaries of tax rulings – seem unable to find time to discuss their tax practices in public before the European Parliament’s Tax Rulings Committee, despite its best efforts to accommodate them”.

According to Alain Lamassoure, Chair of Parliament's Special Committee on Tax Rulings and Other Measures Similar in Nature or Effect: “it is surprising to see that most of the multinationals initially decline to appear before our committee. If they stick to their refusal, it will come across as if they have more to lose than to win by being transparent about the way they fulfil their legal obligations in Europe. It is up to their shareholders, staff, clients, partners and all the EU citizens to decide what they make of that.”

According to the press release Elisa Ferreira, Co-rapporteur, stated: “the refusal of the invited multinationals to shed light on their tax situation - particularly those with a bigger corporate and social responsibility - should be taken very seriously. This is especially the case for European citizens who have been increasingly overburdened with taxes so as to make up for tax dodging by big corporations”.

According to the press release Co-rapporteur Michael Theurer went even a step further when he stated that he thinks that the potential absence of the multinationals is "absolutely unacceptable". He considers their presence "essential to clarify crucial questions such as whether the tax savings were actively proposed by member states, maybe even aggressively promoted."

Click here to be forwarded to the press release as issued by the European Parliament.

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