Brussels, 3 July 2017

European Parliament votes on new tax transparency rules for large multinationals on July 4.

The ETUC urges MEPs to support the new rules, and get rid of the 'get out clause' that would reduce transparency of multinationals.

Earlier this month the ECON and JURI Committees, MEPs strengthened the rules on transparency for multinational corporations but they also adopted a 'get out clause' allowing multinationals to seek a reporting exemption for their operations in countries where they have concerns about disclosing commercially sensitive information – giving a loophole that would enable multinational corporations to keep profits hidden in tax havens.

ETUC urges the Plenary of 4 July to vote in favour of the amendment tabled by the Co-Rapporteurs at least introducing a time-limit for companies to publish the omitted information after a certain period of time (period of two to four years).

Katja Lehto-Komulainen, ETUC Deputy General Secretary, said "After the Luxleaks and Panama Papers scandals, why are some MEPs still doing anything they can to protect the interests of big businesses? We want MEPs to put the interest of workers and citizens first, both in the EU and in developing countries."

"It is shameful that big corporations making large profits can avoid paying taxes while ordinary workers across Europe are paying the price of austerity, rising costs and stagnant wages and still paying their full taxes.

"Tax transparency reforms are a top priority to get the necessary information to enable a fairer society with fairer distribution of tax payments and support growth and job creation."