Election candidates must side with the people not multinational tax dodgers!

Election candidates must side with the people not multinational tax dodgers!

Campaigners take to the streets outside the European Parliament ahead of next month’s elections

For immediate release 

Campaigners from across Europe, including Ireland, are gathering this morning at the European Parliament in Brussels to call on MEP candidates to ensure that fighting tax dodging and promoting financial transparency is at the top of their election agenda.

Outside the European Parliament in Brussels this morning, Morina O’ Neill, tax policy analyst with Debt and Development Coalition Ireland said: “European citizens are set to elect the people who will form the European Parliament for the coming five years. These years are crucial for the fight against corporate tax dodging and financial secrecy. We call on European voters to elect candidates who will join our fight against tax dodgers.”

Debt and Development Coalition Ireland have published a checklist of financial justice issues that they want MEP candidates to prioritise. They include: making all multi-national companies report in detail on a a country by country basis on their taxes and profits; calling on all EU governments to establish public registers of the real owners of companies; ensuring automatic information exchange between tax jurisdictions on tax matters, in a way that ensures developing countries can fully participate; and making the UN the lead mediator in setting global tax policy – and not the OECD which represents a rich club of countries.

Nessa Ni Chasaide Coordinator of Debt and Development Coalition said, “We welcome the move taken by the Irish Government yesterday to commission an analysis of the impact of Irish tax policy on developing countries. This move shows that Ireland does not have enough data available to measure the losses caused to developing countries because of Irish tax policy. Our future MEPs must ensure that this is corrected, and taking the steps toward financial transparency that we are calling for this morning would be an important breakthrough.“

Ms O’ Neill continued: “In times of austerity, it is a public scandal that European societies are losing € 1 trillion per year due to corporate tax dodging. At the same time, developing countries are losing more resources due to tax dodging than they receive in development aid. It must be the top priority for the European election candidates to tackle this problem”.

As part of the campaign, the NGOs have also sent their questions to all major political groupings, and activists are visiting election meetings in Ireland and across Europe to question their candidates’ commitment to making multinational companies pay their taxes.

The campaigners involved in the activity published a joint report “Giving with one hand and taking with the other - Europe's role in tax-related capital flight from developing countries” which provides an overview of tax and transparency regulations in 13 countries across Europe, including in Ireland.

Details of the photocall are as follows:  

As the parliament election campaigns kick off, campaigners across Europe have gathered in Brussels this morning to take part in a satirical photo shoot illustrating the choices that will be facing European Parliamentarians. On one side, the corporate lobby are campaigning for business as usual, and on the other side, civil society is campaigning to make multinational companies pay their fair share of taxes.

Where: The European Parliament

When: Wednesday 30^th April 2014, 10.30am CET

What: Photoshoot outside the European Parliament of ‘tax dodgers’ hiding behind anonymous masks and campaigners with banners calling for tax evasion to end

ENDS

For more details or to set up a specific interview please contact:

Nessa Ni Chasaide, Debt and Development Coalition Ireland, 01 6174835, 087 7507001

Debt and Development Coalition ireland's checklist to MEP candidates on financial transparency can be found here