Conservative parties and business interests are working hard to cast the intense tax com-petition between countries as a normal state of affairs, organised by rules that seem to be widely accepted. “Sweet deals” given by some countries to unfairly attract companies squanders tax revenue as a shared European public good, for a mediocre and short-term benefit for the country. The LuxLeaks, Panama papers, and revelations about the under-taxation of Internet giants like Google, Amazon or Apple shine a crude light on the deeply unethical world of “tax optimisation” in Europe. Countless billions lost through undertax-ation of businesses leave European governments without the money they need to over-come the economic crisis and forced to squeeze their public services.
18:30 Panel discussion
Moderated by Uwe Optenhögel, director of the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung office, Brussels
Evelyn Regner, Member of the European Parliament, SPÖ, Austria
Country-by-country reporting to bring transparency in business taxation
Margret Kiener Nellen, Member of the Parliament, SP, Switzerland
The 3rd revision of Swiss business taxation laws
Jan Cornillie, Director Policy Unit Sp.a, Belgium
What should the EU do against fiscal dumping?
Antonio Gambini, CNCD 11.11.11, Belgium
What did the LuxLeaks and Panama Papers teach us?
19:15 World café
Audience and speakers co-create the agenda to advance the struggle to fairly tax businesses.
20:00 Apéro and informal discussions