Three quarters of Europeans want the EU to do more to tackle tax fraud according to a survey commissioned by the European Parliament, which found that only Greece showed a marked resistance to more action in this area
The Eurobarometer survey was conducted in April this year and polled 28,000 people representing all 28 member states. The results show the fight against tax fraud was highlighted by respondents as the third most important priority for the EU, after terrorism (cited by 82% overall), and unemployment (77%).
At the EU level 75% of people wanted more EU action compared to 69% in Ireland and 70% in the UK. Portugal (91%) and Spain (89%) emerged as the countries keenest for the EU to do more than at present.
In contrast, 17% of people in Greece said they thought the EU should do less than is currently the case to tackle tax evasion, the only country where this score was in double figures. In the UK, the proportion who wanted the EU to reign in its activities stood at 9% and in Ireland it was 4%. Over a third of Austrians (37%) thought efforts should remain as they are.
Italian Socialist and Democrat party member Roberto Gualtieri, the chair of Parliament's economic committee, said: ‘75% of the EU population expects more EU action on the fight against tax fraud: it is necessary to respond effectively to this concern.
'The European Parliament is leading this fight, by adopting ambitious and concrete proposals to increase tax transparency and combat tax avoidance, calling for the automatic exchange of tax rulings between member states and public country-by-country reporting for multinationals, together with a common definition of tax havens and strong and concrete sanctions.
‘We will continue to push member states to strengthen their tax policies, to close loopholes and to improve coordination at the EU and international level. It is only a matter of fairness towards EU citizens.’
In the wake of the LuxLeaks scandal MEPs set up two special committees on tax rulings. In its final report, which MEPs adopted in July 2016, the second special committee called for an EU register of beneficial owners of companies, a tax heavens blacklist and action against the misuse of patent box regimes.
The Panama papers inquiry committee is start its work this autumn to assess how the European Commission and member states are fighting money laundering and tax evasion. This autumn MEPs will also start working on the public transparency rules for multinationals.
The Eurobarometer survey results are here.
