European Parliament report on Panama Papers: this scandal could have been prevented

The European Parliament’s two Co-Rapporteurs Petr Ježek (ALDE) and Jeppe Kofod (S&D) will today present the draft inquiry report and the draft recommendations of the PANA Inquiry Committee. Co-Rapporteur Petr Ježek (ANO, Czech Republic) said ahead of today’s meeting:

“The draft conclusions and recommendations, that we will present today [to the other Members…], are the results of a year of intensive work to reconstruct the events and collect evidence, particularly on the role of the intermediaries like banks, lawyers, accountants [wealth manager] or tax advisors in facilitating tax evasion and money laundering, as revealed by the Panama Papers. Our report makes it clear that the practices uncovered by the Panama Papers scandal were wholly preventable and would not have happened if national governments and the Commission had taken their responsibilities seriously and pro-actively implemented EU legislation.”

MEP Michael Theurer (FDP, Germany), ALDE Group’s Coordinator of the PANA Committee and former Co-Rapporteur of the two Tax Special Committees (TAXE I and II), added:

“The work of the PANA inquiry committee has made it clear: in the fight against aggressive tax avoidance and money-laundering, there are not only loopholes in legislation but also in the implementation of legislation. It is a scandal that so far only 14 Member States support the European prosecutor project. It is significant that countries like Malta, where even government officials are named in the context of the Panama Papers, want to stay outside of it. In situations like this, the European Commission should act. It is crucial that we establish a true European investigation capacity, based on the model of the FBI.”