(EPSU press release 18 December 2014) In a letter to the Commission sent yesterday 17 December, the European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU) and civil society members of the European Commission good tax governance Platform expressed strong concerns regarding the possible conflict of interest of some PwC-linked members currently sitting on the Platform.
The EC advisory Platform, established last year, is charged with advising the Commission on implementing its action plan against corporate aggressive tax planning and tax fraud (see EPSU comments).
As the Platform is to meet next on Friday 19 December, the Commission is asked to activate the conflict of interest provision in the rules of procedure of the Platform.
“So far, after the damning Lux Leak revelations, only one individual is facing serious legal problems: the former employee of PwC who informed the press of the scale of industrial tax dodging and the role of the Big 4 accounting/auditing firms. It is utterly unacceptable that the tax dodging perpetrators are, so far, not only left off the hook, they continue advising EU decision-takers on how to tackle public money robbery. This must stop.” says Jan Willem Goudriaan General Secretary of Europe's largest public service trade union federation represented on the platform.
In addition, EPSU reiterates its call for a parliamentary enquiry committee regarding the legality of the hundreds of tax rulings struck with the Luxembourg tax authorities. Coupled with the ongoing EC competition authorities’ investigations on the legality with state aid rules of tax rulings for Apple in Ireland, Fiat Finance and Trade in Luxembourg, and Starbucks in the Netherlands, with more cases pending, a fully fledged enquiry parliamentary committee must be part of the responses at EU level.
The Big 4 firms are: Deloitte & Touche, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ernst & Young, KPMG
For more information: Pablo Sanchez, [email protected] 0032 (0) 474 62 66 33
- See the letter to the Commission here
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