The "Panama papers" and the concern about fiscal, social justice and public trust in our democratic system

Motion for a resolution | Doc. 14045 | 27 April 2016

Signatories:

Mr Mart van de VEN, Netherlands, ALDE ; Mr Volodymyr ARIEV, Ukraine, EPP/CD ; Mr Jokin BILDARRATZ, Spain, ALDE ; Ms Sílvia Eloïsa BONET, Andorra, SOC ; Ms Dawn BUTLER, United Kingdom, SOC ; Mr Irakli CHIKOVANI, Georgia, ALDE ; Ms Adele GAMBARO, Italy, ALDE ; Mr Antonio GUTIÉRREZ, Spain, SOC ; Mr Hamid HAMID, Bulgaria, ALDE ; Mr Andres HERKEL, Estonia, EPP/CD ; Mr Carles JORDANA, Andorra, ALDE ; Mr Giorgi KANDELAKI, Georgia, EPP/CD ; Ms Nellija KLEINBERGA, Latvia, ALDE ; Mr Tiny KOX, Netherlands, UEL ; Ms Kerstin LUNDGREN, Sweden, ALDE ; Ms Anouchka van MILTENBURG, Netherlands, ALDE ; Ms Miljana NIKOLIĆ, Serbia, EPP/CD ; Ms Judith PALLARÉS, Andorra, ALDE ; Mr Nico SCHRIJVER, Netherlands, SOC ; Ms Chiora TAKTAKISHVILI, Georgia, ALDE ; Mr Damien THIÉRY, Belgium, ALDE ; Ms Alina ZOTEA, Republic of Moldova, ALDE ; Mr Levon ZOURABIAN, Armenia, ALDE

This motion has not been discussed in the Assembly and commits only those who have signed it.

On Monday 18 April 2016 the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe held a current affairs debate on the case of the "Panama papers" and the concern about fiscal, social justice and public trust in our democratic system, in which it discussed opaque international legal structures where offshore jurisdictions like Panama are involved.

Work is already undertaken by the OECD at the request of the G-20 on the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) project as published on 5 October 2015 and the European Commission has recently made proposals on the Anti Tax Avoidance Program (ATAP) of 28 January 2016.

The "Panama papers" exhorted additional action to combat international tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance by opaque international legal structures.

The trust of the common people in our democratic system has been broken by the Panama papers that make clear that these structures are not compatible with the requirements for transparency for the levying of taxes due.

The public requires action from governments for rules to combat international tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance.

Consequently, the Parliamentary Assembly should investigate the issue of international opaque legal structures for tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance.