Panama Papers Committee: Left Members nominated

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The European Parliament has adopted a robust mandate for an inquiry into the so called "Panama Papers" scandal. The GUE/NGL group, which has been pushing for this inquiry, as for the currently on-going investigation of the Luxembourg Leaks, has selected its MEPs for the committee.
 
GUE/NGL will nominate the full members Fabio De Masi as Vice-Chair, Patrick LeHyaric as coordinator and Miguel Urban Crespo as shadow rapporteur. Matt Carthy will also represent GUE/NGL as full member on the committee.
 
The group will be further represented by substitute members Miguel Viegas, Curzio Maltese, Marina Albiol and Stelios Kouloglou.
 
Fabio De Masi, GUE/NGL coordinator in the on-going TAX2 committee comments: “We will respond to the organized crime of the rich and powerful. This investigation is not only about the Panama Papers but also the dirty laundry in our own backyard. Money-laundering, tax evasion and tax avoidance is intimately connected with our battle against the disastrous austerity regime in the EU which takes from the 99% and gives to the 1%.
 
Urgently needed reforms include plugging the obvious loopholes in the EU’s anti-money laundering directive, which currently allows circumvention of transparency requirements via nominee directors all too easily. We also need bold and comprehensive sanctions against those who evade taxes or provide the financial and legal tools to do so. Further, GUE/NGL still pursues its lawsuit against the European Commission for full access to documents from the Council’s taxation Code of Conduct Group. We will not leave the business unfinished we started in the TAXE committee”