French government business links show need for tax transparency measures to work for citizens

Today, negotiators from the European Parliament, Commission and Council will hold crucial negotiations on the country-by-country reporting file on tax transparency for multinational companies. The file had been stuck in the Council for years. Today, revelations in Contexte show that the position of the French government on the file was drafted by the French business lobby group Medef. This directive was proposed as an answer to the LuxLeaks scandal.

Ernest Urtasun MEP, Greens/EFA negotiator on the file from the ECON Committee, comments:
 
"Today's revelations show that President Macron's government favours the interest of big business over citizens. The French proposal for a safeguard clause would create a legal loophole allowing big multinational to avoid their reporting obligations. Now, we know that it was literally the big multinationals who drafted the French position. The arguments reflected in the non-paper drafted by a lobby has been guiding the Council’s position in the current negotiations. We call on the Council to distance themselves from this paper, and show that it is working for citizens and not just lobby groups."