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Juncker
bloqueou medidas europeias contra a evasão fiscal, avança Guardian
O
jornal britânico teve acesso a telegramas diplomáticos que
comprometem o presidente da Comissão Europeia.
PÚBLICO 1 de
Janeiro de 2017, 15:55
O presidente da
Comissão Europeia, Jean-Claude Juncker, passou anos, enquanto
ocupava o cargo de primeiro-ministro do Luxemburgo, a bloquear os
esforços da União Europeia para combater a evasão fiscal por parte
de grandes multinacionais. A revelação é feita pelo jornal
britânico The Guardian com base em telegramas diplomáticos alemães
a que teve acesso, juntamente com o Consórcio Internacional de
Jornalistas de Investigação e a rádio alemã NDR.
No centro da
história está um comité criado pelos Estados membros para discutir
o código de conduta fiscal para as grandes empresas, que era uma
forma de evitar que os diferentes países entrassem em conflito na
defesa das suas próprias políticas fiscais, umas mais permissivas
do que outras, e fossem vulneráveis às pressões das
multinacionais.
Criado há perto de
19 anos, este foi sempre, diz o Guardian, um dos comités com maior
nível de secretismo de Bruxelas. O que os documentos agora revelados
mostram é a forma como um pequeno grupo de países “muitas vezes
liderado pelo Luxemburgo”, com o apoio da Holanda, conseguiu
“atrasar, diluir ou travar” medidas que obrigariam as
multinacionais a cumprir as suas obrigações fiscais.
Primeiro-ministro do
Luxemburgo entre 1995 e 2013, Juncker, diz o Guardian, teve um papel
activo nesses esforços de bloqueio de medidas, tendo, além disso,
insistido sempre na necessidade de manter a regra da unanimidade,
que, segundo outros países com assento no comité (como a França, a
Alemanha e a Suécia), tornava este muito pouco eficaz. Por outro
lado, continua o diário britânico, o Luxemburgo opôs-se também
sempre aos planos para identificar o sentido de voto dos membros do
comité e os argumentos utilizados, impedindo assim que ficasse claro
quem estava a bloquear as reformas.
O Guardian contactou
o Ministério das Finanças do Luxemburgo que se recusou a comentar
posições assumidas por executivos anteriores em debates privados
dentro de instituições europeias. Também não deram resultados os
contactos feitos junto do gabinete de Juncker, que disse não estar
disponível para responder a perguntas sobre posições negociais
assumidas pelo Luxemburgo no passado.
“Não temos
conhecimento das comunicações [os telegramas diplomáticos alemães]
que vocês dizem ter, não sabemos se são genuínas e por isso não
podemos comentar”, disse o porta-voz do Governo luxemburguês. E
acrescentou que “nos últimos anos, o Luxemburgo tem estado na
linha da frente das tendências globais para uma maior transparência
em matérias fiscais e na luta contra competição fiscal
prejudicial”.
O Guardian contactou
especialistas em matérias fiscais que confirmam que, com o actual
Governo presidido por Xavier Bettel, o Luxemburgo começou a
afastar-se de políticas fiscais mais agressivas que tinha no tempo
de Juncker.
Foi com essas
políticas, continua o jornal, que o actual presidente da Comissão
Europeia transformou o seu país de uma economia baseada no aço num
centro de negócios internacional e um dos países do mundo com maior
riqueza per capita.
Entre as empresas
que se precipitaram para o pequeno Estado para beneficiar das suas
políticas fiscais de impostos muito baixos, canalizando os lucros
através de subsidiárias ali baseadas, estão, por exemplo, a
McDonald’s, a Fiat, a Amazon, a Shire Pharmaceuticals e a Skype.
Quando o esquema foi
tornado público, em 2014, no chamado caso Lux Leaks, Juncker admitiu
que a sua reputação saía prejudicada e que, apesar de não ser
ilegal, o sistema fiscal do Luxemburgo violava “princípios éticos
e morais”. Mas garantiu que à frente da Comissão Europeia iria
liderar uma campanha contra a evasão fiscal e apoiar os esforços
que têm vindo a ser feitos pela comissária para a Concorrência,
Margrethe Vestager.
No entanto, o
Guardian conclui que “os telegramas diplomáticos agora tornados
públicos levantam questões sobre se ele será a melhor pessoa para
estar à frente destas reformas”.
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Jean-Claude
Juncker blocked EU curbs on tax avoidance, cables show
Leaked
papers reveal that as Luxembourg’s PM, the European commission
president obstructed the bloc’s tax reforms efforts
Simon Bowers
@sbowers00
Sunday 1 January
2017 13.14 GMT
The president of the
European commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, spent years in his previous
role as Luxembourg’s prime minister secretly blocking EU efforts to
tackle tax avoidance by multinational corporations, leaked documents
reveal.
Years’ worth of
confidential German diplomatic cables provide a candid account of
Luxembourg’s obstructive manoeuvres inside one of Brussels’ most
secretive committees.
The code of conduct
group on business taxation was set up almost 19 years ago to prevent
member states from being played off against one another by
increasingly powerful multinational businesses, eager to shift
profits across borders and avoid tax.
Little has been
known until now about the workings of the committee, which has been
meeting since 1998, after member states agreed a code of conduct on
tax policies and pledged not to engage in “harmful competition”
with one another.
However, the leaked
cables reveal how a small handful of countries have used their seats
on the committee to frustrate concerted EU action and protect their
own tax regimes.
Efforts by a
majority of member states to curb aggressive tax planning and to rein
in predatory tax policies were regularly delayed, diluted or derailed
by the actions of a few of the EU’s smallest members, frequently
led by Luxembourg.
The leaked papers,
shared with the Guardian and the International Consortium of
Investigative Journalists by the German radio group NDR, are highly
embarrassing for Juncker, who served as Luxembourg’s prime minister
from 1995 until the end of 2013. During that period he also acted as
finance and treasury minister, taking a close interest in tax policy.
Despite having a
population of just 560,000, Luxembourg was able to resist widely
supported EU tax reforms, its dissenting voice often backed only by
that of the Netherlands.
Among proposals
popular in the code of conduct committee but opposed by Luxembourg
were:
• Plans for tax
authorities in each member state to subject their dealings with
multinational businesses to peer review.
• An investigation
into cross-border tax avoidance strategies, known as “hybrid
mismatches”, often used by multinationals to conjure up artificial
tax savings.
• Improved
information sharing between member states on tax deals granted to
multinationals in private.
A spokesperson for
Luxembourg’s finance ministry refused to comment on the positions
previous governments had taken in private EU discussions. “We have
no knowledge of the communications you claim to have, and whether
they are genuine, and therefore cannot comment on them,” he said.
The spokesperson
added: “In recent years Luxembourg has been at the forefront of the
global trend towards greater transparency in tax matters and the
fight against harmful tax competition.”
The Guardian spoke
to another former member of the code of conduct committee, who did
not want to be named but corroborated claims in the leaked cables
that Luxembourg was regularly among those looking to frustrate EU
efforts to tackle tax avoidance.
The source said the
committee was no longer fit for purpose. They said it was unable to
achieve much because it was governed by unanimity. “Each country is
ready to block any agreement. Moreover, each country stands ready to
bargain its position on tax against any other topic at stake in the
EU,” they said.
Some tax experts
contacted by the Guardian confirmed that Luxembourg had begun to move
away from certain aggressive tax policies under the current prime
minister, Xavier Bettel.
However, the leaked
cables suggest the country has remained resistant to other changes.
In 2016 it fiercely opposed efforts supported by many countries to
strengthen and expand the code of conduct committee’s work.
Luxembourg
particularly objected to a relaxation of the committee’s own rules
on decision making, insisting there was no need to abandon the
unanimity requirement.
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France, Germany and
Sweden argued unsuccessfully that removing unanimity had become
essential to the committee’s effectiveness.
Luxembourg also
opposed plans to identify member states that were standing in the way
of reforms more clearly. One leaked cable noted: “It has become
abundantly clear once again that a majority [of members states] are
not interested in real reform. In particular, Luxembourg
representatives said they would fundamentally object to any proposal
to publish arguments made by Luxembourg in the committee.”
A later cable read:
“It is impressive to see how some member states present themselves
outwardly as proponents of [international tax reforms] and at the
same time to watch how they actually behave in EU discussions,
protected by confidentiality.”
The Guardian
contacted Juncker’s office for comment. A spokesperson said it was
not for the European commission to respond to questions about
negotiating positions Luxembourg had taken, or about the country’s
past tax policies.
Damaging revelations
Jean-Claude
Juncker’s record as Luxembourg’s prime minister has cast an
enduring shadow over his presidency of the European commission.
On paper, his
marathon 18-year stint at the helm of the EU’s second smallest
member state might be hailed a triumph. He recast the fading
steel-based economy into a booming hub for international business,
and when he departed in 2013 Luxembourg had been transformed into one
of the richest countries in the world per capita.
Hundreds of the
multinational corporations rushed to channel international profits
through subsidiaries in the country, among them McDonald’s, Fiat,
Amazon, Shire Pharmaceuticals and Skype.
The secret to this
success was exposed in 2014 when the Luxleaks scandal revealed the
terms hidden within hundreds of private deals, known as “tax
rulings”, that Luxembourg had handed out to multinational
businesses behind closed doors.
The rulings
effectively rubber-stamped complex tax structures that global
corporations used to access ultra-low tax rates, often less than 1%,
for profits shifted to Luxembourg.
Juncker conceded the
scandal had damaged his reputation. While not illegal, he admitted
Luxembourg’s tax system was also “not always in line with fiscal
fairness” and may have breached “ethical and moral standards”.
Since then, Juncker
has made a point of supporting the EU’s competition commissioner,
Margrethe Vestager, as she pursues high-profile investigations into
specific tax rulings, including deals Luxembourg granted separately
to McDonald’s and Amazon.
The investigations
are examining whether the deals were so generous that they amounted
to illegal state aid from Juncker’s Luxembourg.
Juncker has also
campaigned hard for greater tax cooperation among member states in
the battle against international businesses that avoid tax. The
latest leaked cables, however, raise further questions about whether
he is the right person to champion such reforms.
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