Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-10-25-Speech-2-658-000"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20111025.32.2-658-000"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, in response to the oral question, I would again refer to the very serious crisis that the European Union is currently undergoing. The European Union’s response so far – very much criticised by my group – has, amongst other things, rather fiercely been focused on savings, and penalties if those savings are not made rapidly enough. Look at the current restructuring efforts being made in Greece, but also in Portugal and Spain, and which are in preparation in many other countries. It is usually very ordinary people who are the first victims of this. They have the feeling that they are paying the price for the failures of the system.
In that context, what is obviously crying out for reform is the fact that, meanwhile, some of the most well-off Europeans are being allowed to violate laws, evade their responsibilities and park billions of dollars without taxation in Switzerland and other tax havens. That is how as much as EUR 80 billion of Greek funds are said to be stored in Switzerland. Several Member States are now trying – and I think very rightly – to do something about that and tax those billions in some way. However, we believe they are using the wrong methods, by regulating those matters bilaterally. This allows the Swiss to conduct a policy of divide and conquer and defend their own interests all the more easily by, amongst other things, insisting on levies lower than those that should normally be paid, and, on top of that, cementing the anonymity of their customers.
It is patently obvious that, in the interests of all our Member States’ tax authorities and, therefore, in the interests of ordinary people, we need to be pulling in one single direction and that the European Union as a whole should negotiate a global agreement with Switzerland and others, if only to ensure coherency with our own efforts to tighten the interest rates directive, for example. This could perhaps be based on the approach taken by the United States. There, they are threatening banks that do not want to budge with penalties of up to USD 2.5 billion. More than ever, we need to do away with tax havens. Banking secrecy should not take precedence over the principle that everyone should simply follow the same rules.
I am pleased, Commissioner, that you have made it very clear tonight that bilateral initiatives could undermine the community approach of the European Union. As a result, it is important that the Commission adopt a slightly more proactive strategy on the issue of Switzerland, where automatic exchange of information and the closing of various loopholes are crucial. Commissioner, I therefore wish you a great deal of courage and good luck, but I think that we in Europe ought to centralise things, negotiate collectively and, in that way, achieve better results."@en1
|
| lpv:videoURI |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples