European Parliament 2014-2019 Committee of Inquiry into Money Laundering, Tax Avoidance and Tax Evasion COORDINATORS' MEETING Monday, 13 March 2017 19h00 to 21h00 Salvador de Madariaga (SDM) S-1 Strasbourg Summary of Coordinators recommendations Present: Bureau: Coordinators: Werner Langen (Chair) Ana Gomes (1st Vice-Chair) Pirkko Ruohonen-Lerner (2nd Vice-Chair) Fabio De Masi (3rd Vice-Chair) Eva Joly (4th Vice-Chair) Tom Vandenkendelaere (EPP Substitute Coordinator) Peter Simon (S&D Coordinator) Bernd Lucke (ECR Coordinator) Patrick Le Hyaric (GUE Coordinator) Sven Giegold (Greens Coordinator) Barbara Kappel (ENF Coordinator) Co-Rapporteurs: Jeppe Kofod (S&D) Petr Ježek (ALDE) 1 P a g e
A. Adoption of draft agenda The agenda was adopted without changes. B. Chairs announcements The Chair made the following announcements: Feedback from the PANA Missions to Valletta (Malta) and Luxembourg. Access to documents: the Chair stressed his disappointment with the cooperation with the other institutions with regard to documents. ITEMS FOR DECISION C. Draft programme of Committee hearings and missions - 2nd half of 2017 The Coordinators took note that the programme of Committee hearings and missions for the second half of 2017 should be sent to the Conference of Committee Chairs (CCC) by 23 March 2017. 1. Hearings The Coordinators agreed on the following topics for future hearings: Thursday, 6 April am (STB) Impact of the Panama Papers on developing countries (3 h) 1st Part: exchange of views with Commissioner Pierre Moscovici (1:30) Thursday, 4 May am Second part: Possibly hearing on Special Economic Zones (Gibraltar/ Madeira) (1:30) Possibly: Whistle-blowers (in coordination with the ongoing INI report on whistle-blowers in JURI and ECON) (1h30) Tuesday, 9 May am Special Tax Jurisdictions + Overview of potential instruments to be applied when some jurisdictions are noncooperative + overview of high-risk countries and structural similarities of the high-risk countries that make their legal systems and make them attractive: 2 P a g e
- Panama - British Virgin Islands - Channel Islands (3h00 or 1h30). Possibly: hearing on Special Economic Zones (Gibraltar/ Madeira) (1:30) Thursday, 18 May am (STB) 1 Follow-up to the missions and hearings Exchange of views with the President of the Commission (1h30) Tuesday, 30 May pm Exchange of views with the Council Presidency (1h00) Exchange of views with the Chair of the Code of Conduct group (1h00) Wednesday, 21 June pm Hearing with FIUs concerned by the Panama Papers: National compliance with relevant EU legislation, implementation and enforcement + How the exchange of information between tax authorities works in practice (3h00) Monday, 3 July pm (STB) 2 Exchange of views with Commissioner Jourova Monday, 10 July pm + Tuesday, 11 July evening Consideration of the draft report and possibly meeting with EU Ministers of Finances (provisional date for ECOFIN is 10-11 July) [Deadline for amendments] Tuesday, 5 September pm Aggressive tax planning: do celebrities and companies breach the EU law? - Football leaks (1h30) - BASF and Caterpillar (1h30) 1 The exchange of views on "Follow-up to the missions and hearings" scheduled on 18 May could also take place on 21 June am 2 As regard the meeting on Monday 3 July in Strasbourg: given that Commissioner Jourova is not available for both May 4th and June 21st, her office proposes the date of July 3th. 3 P a g e
- Possibly, implications of Panama Papers on Portugal (in case mission to Portugal is refused) Tuesday, 26 September am Consideration of amendments Wednesday, 18 October pm Vote on draft report 2. Missions The Coordinators agreed on the following destinations for future missions: - Cyprus (6-7 July) - Switzerland (7-8 September or 14-15 September) - Portugal (22-23 June) D. Next Committee meeting of Thursday, 6 April am in Strasbourg Hearing on Impact of the Panama-Papers on Developing countries The Coordinators agreed to organise a hearing from 09.00 to 12.00 focusing on Africa with maximum 6 speakers. ITEMS FOR INFORMATION E. Access to documents The Coordinators took note of a letter received from the Council and a reply letter prepared by the Chair on behalf of the Committee. The Coordinators agreed to have readers meetings, for which the Secretariat will send invitations. F. Presentation of studies - 27 April pm and 2 May pm The Coordinators took note of the two half-days meetings at which the PolDep/EPRS Units will organise the presentation of seven studies: Thursday 27 April, from 14.00 to 17.30: Session 1 (3.5 hours): Money laundering and tax evasion: What s the impact on Member States and how effective are they in fighting it 4 P a g e
Tuesday 2 May from 15.00 to 18.30: Session 2 (3.5 hours): Offshore practices: The roles and responsibilities of intermediaries and the relations of EU Member States with their overseas countries and territories G. State of play on Who refused to participate in hearing/delegation and why? The Coordinators took note of the state of play on speakers and people invited who have refused to participate in the hearings/delegations and the reasons for that. Before publishing the list, the Secretariat should ensure it is updated and corrected. H. Request for Member States contributions - State of play of replies received up until now Investigating cases of tax evasion, tax avoidance, tax fraud and money laundering at the EU Member State level For the study of Member State's systems and penalty regimes for combatting tax crimes, based on submissions responding to the questionnaire sent to the responsible ministers, 18 contributions have been received so far, namely from: Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Estonia, France, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Latvia, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, United Kingdom The national contributions are published on PANA website, under Request for Member State contributions : http://www.europarl.europa.eu/committees/en/pana/publications.html?tab=offici al%20letters The Coordinators were asked to check their respective Members States contributions and if appropriate, to send a follow up letter with more specific questions. I. Reply to the letter from PANA Chair to ICIJ The Coordinators took note of the reply from Will Fitzgibbon, reporter with the ICIJ, in response to the letter sent by PANA Chair to Gerard Ryle, Director of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. 5 P a g e
J. Letter to EP President, Antonio Tajani, on the PANA mandate extension The Coordinators took note of the letter sent by the Chair to the President, Antonio Tajani, requesting for extension of the term of office of the PANA Committee. K. Mission to USA (21-24 March) The Coordinators took note the latest version of the draft programme. L. Any other business M. Time and date of next Coordinators' meeting Monday, 3 April, from 19.00 to 21.00, Strasbourg 6 P a g e