Home Sandra KALNIETE

. – The Pandora Papers put the spotlight on the EU’s vague progress in the fight against tax havens and shell companies. Even after years of scandals, the EU measures to tackle tax havens have no strong effect. Most countries featuring prominently in the Pandora Papers, such as the British Virgin Islands, are absent from it. We must reset the EU blacklist and make sure that it contains all the usual suspects. By taking out Anguilla, Dominica and the Seychelles from this blacklist just a couple of days after the Pandora revelations, the Council made a mistake and sent the wrong signal in the fight against tax-dodging and money laundering. Therefore, the Council should reconsider its decision. In addition, we also need to link the blacklist to an effective sanctions regime. Being listed should not be a bureaucratic fact, but must imply concrete penalties and raise the costs of tax avoidance. Additionally, corporate taxes have to be paid where the economic activity takes place and third countries that fail to cooperate with European anti-money-laundering investigations must be penalised. Therefore, I voted in favour of the resolution, calling for those principles and measures to be implemented without delay.