Activities of Eva JOLY related to 2010/2102(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Cooperating with developing countries on promoting good governance in tax matters (short presentation)
Reports (1)
REPORT on Tax and Development – Cooperating with Developing Countries on Promoting Good Governance in Tax Matters PDF (275 KB) DOC (180 KB)
Amendments (17)
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Aa. whereas taxation can be a reliable and sustainable source of development finance if there is a progressive taxation regime; an effective and efficient tax administration to promote tax compliance; transparent and accountable use of public revenue,
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
Ca. whereas off-shore centres and tax havens facilitate an annual illicit capital flight of US$1 trillion; whereas these illicit monetary outflows are roughly ten times the amount of aid money going into developing countries for poverty alleviation and economic development,
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C b (new)
Recital C b (new)
Cb. whereas tax havens, that offer secrecy rules and fictional domiciles combined with "zero tax" regimes in order to attract capital and revenues that should have been taxed in other countries, generate harmful tax competition,
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C c (new)
Recital C c (new)
Cc. whereas tax competition has resulted in a shift of the tax burden to workers and low-income households and has forced damaging cutbacks in public services in poor countries,
Amendment 14 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas the possibility of enhancing domestic resource mobilisation is further weakened by the global context, characterised by customs tariff liberalisation, whereas IMF research shows that while rich countries have managed to offset the decline of trade taxes as a principal source of income with other sources of revenue, notably VAT, the poorest countries have at best replaced about 30% of lost trade taxes,
Amendment 17 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D a (new)
Recital D a (new)
Da. whereas the "mapping survey" led by the ITC demonstrates that further donor coordination is needed in the area of taxation and development,
Amendment 27 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. WHighlights that tax-to-GDP ratio in developing countries ranges between 10 to 20% as opposed to 25 to 40% in developed countries; regrets that too little support was given so far by donors to tax-related assistance; in this context, welcomes the Commission's proposal to provide enhanced support for assisting developing countries in tax reforms and strengthening tax administrations regarding EDF for ACP States, the Development Cooperation Instrument and the ENP and Partnership Instrument, and support for national supervisory bodies, parliaments and non- state actors;
Amendment 36 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Underlines that globalisation exacerbates the fiscal problems of developing countries, as they tend to grant multiple exemptions to large domestic and foreign companies in order to attract investments;
Amendment 39 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Stresses that tax havens, by increasing competition over mobile capital, encroach upon the sovereignty of developing countries to tax income from capital as a means to widen the tax base, while they have already a narrower tax base than rich countries;
Amendment 40 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 b (new)
Paragraph 6 b (new)
6b. Recalls that asymmetry of information, that results from tax havens secrecy rules, reduces the efficiency of international financial markets, since that has led to higher risk premiums and thereby increased borrowing costs for both rich and poor countries;
Amendment 42 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Urges the Commission to upgrade its assistance to strengthen the judiciary and anti-corruption agencies in developing countries,Reiterates that good governance and the quality of institutions represent the most important driver for economic prosperity; accordingly, urges the Commission to upgrade its assistance to strengthen the judiciary and anti-corruption agencies in developing countries, likewise, urges the EU Member States to combat bribery committed by companies domiciled in their jurisdictions but which have operations in developing countries; and calls on the Commission to effectively integrate the principles of good governance in tax matters into the programming, implementation and monitoring of country and regional strategy papers, and to systematically include clauses on good governance in future trade agreements;
Amendment 49 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8a. Notes with concern that billions of dollars per year have left the African continent between 1991 and 2004; in particular, underlines that these outflows are estimated at 7.6% of the annual GDP of the region, which make African countries net creditors of donor countries; considers that ODA and debt relief provided by developed countries will only be effective if concrete measures are taken equally by the G20, the OECD and the EU to ensure that the potential tax base of developing countries is not undermined through tax evasion; encourages in this context the UN and the OECD, in close cooperation with the African Tax Administration Forum, to pursue their work in this area;
Amendment 59 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Stresses that trade mispricing is one of the most prominent drivers of illicit financial outflows; calls on the EUCommission to contribute to enhancing public expertise on such issues in developing countries, and to work upon concrete proposals to ensure that the G20, the OECD, the UN and the WTO consider a broader set of indicators and methods for tackling trade mispricing, among which are the US ‘comparable profit methods’ that have shown promise in determining the incorrect pricing of transactions;
Amendment 67 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)
Paragraph 12 a (new)
12a. Points out that a large number of rentier states, that benefit from abundant resource rents, particularly those from oil and minerals, have little incentive to be accountable, responsive or efficient; reiterates that strong institutional and democratic control mechanisms are crucial for combating economic crime; in particular, calls on the Commission to step up its development assistance on the formulation of contracts between multinational companies and developing countries on resource exploitation issues;
Amendment 69 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Recalls that the quality of financial reporting is crucial to combat tax evasion effectively; considers that country-by- country reporting is of utmost importance for extractive industries; but recalls that it would equally be beneficial for investors in all sectors, thereby contributing to good governance globally; therefore insists that the IASB includes within its International Financial Reporting Standard a requirement that all multinational corporations report their income and tax paid on a country-by- country basis; recalls that such request is consistent with the need to improve corporate social responsibility of multinational enterprises; calls on the Commission to integrate country-by-country reporting in its reform of accounting directives;
Amendment 73 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Notes that since the G20 Summit of 2 April 2009, offshore financial centres have committed to OECD standards on transparency and exchange of information; notes however that the harmful structures of tax havens still prevail; calls once more for action beyond the OECD framework to combat tax havens in view of their various shortcomings; in this respect, reiterates its concerns about the fact that the OECD international standards require exchange of information on request but that there is no automatic exchange of information on the line of the saving tax directive; likewise criticizes the fact that the OECD allows governments to escape its blacklist merely by promising to adhere to the information exchange principles, without ensuring that these principles are effectively put into practise; considers also that the requirement to conclude a number of 12 agreements with other countries jurisdictions to be removed from the backlist is arbitrary as it doesn't refer to any qualitative indicators allowing to make an objective assessment of the fulfilment of good governance practises;
Amendment 79 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. CDeplores that the G-20 has not yet come up with a clear timetable and concrete sanction mechanism to make effective the fight against tax havens; calls for the adoption of an international convention with the purpose of eliminating harmful tax structures that would include sanctions both for non- cooperative jurisdictions and for financial institutions that operate with tax havens; urges the EU to adopt measures similar to the US Stop Tax Havens Abuse Act and to consider the possibility of withdrawing banking license to financial institutions that operate with tax havens;