Caterpillar boycotted the hearing of Committee of Inquiry into Money Laundering, Tax Avoidance and Tax Evasion
Letter by MEP Sven Giegold requesting the withdrawal of their access badges
Brussels, 26th September 2017
Dear President Tajani,
dear General Secretary Welle,
dear Quaestors,
The Committee of Inquiry into Money Laundering, Tax Avoidance and Tax Evasion (PANA) invited Caterpillar Belgium SA to a hearing today. Thierry Hansen, Administrateur Délégué of Caterpillar Belgium SA, answered our invitation in his letter of 24 August 2017 to colleague Werner Langen, chairman of PANA, that he declines our invitation. His reasoning to decline is self-defeating and contradictory since he continues his letter with arguments on a number of points we would have liked to discuss with him in person.
Caterpillar is registered in the EU Transparency Register of Parliament and Commission. Mr Hansen is registered as person with legal responsibility for his company. When declining himself, he failed to point to anyone else who would be able to answer our questions. Such behaviour is an unacceptable ignorance towards Parliament.
For such a case, our Rules of Procedure as adopted on 13 December 2016, in rule 116a, state: “Without prejudice to the applicability of the general rules governing the withdrawal or temporary de-activation of long-term access badges, and unless there are significant arguments to the contrary, the Secretary-General shall, with the authorisation of the Quaestors, withdraw or de- activate a long-term access badge where its holder has been disbarred from the transparency register for a breach of the Code of Conduct for Registrants, has been guilty of a serious breach of the obligations laid down in this paragraph, or has refused, without offering a sufficient justification, to comply with a formal summons to attend a hearing or committee meeting or to cooperate with a committee of inquiry.”
Therefore, I would like to ask you to withdraw the two entrance badges that Caterpillar Belgium SA currently holds to enter the premises of the European Parliament.
Kind regards
Sven Giegold
Greens/EFA Coordinator in the PANA Committee
Rapporteur for Transparency, Accountability and Integrity in the EU Institutions
See :
Rule 116a in the Parliament’s rules of procedure
Caterpillar in the transparency register
