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15:02 GMT
BRUSSELS, April 4 (KUNA) -- The European Union Thrusday condemned tax fraud
and underlined its commitment to fighting tax fraud being carried out by
individuals or companies or third countries.
"Third countries which accept tax havens on their terriotrty or accept tax
evasion must be aware that there will be consequences. Tax evasion costs the
EU one billion euro every year," EU spokesman Olivier Bailly told a press
conference in Brussels.
He was responding on the publication Thursday of over 2 million documents
detailing the hidden wealth of over 130,000 individuals in offshore locations.
The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) co-operated
with several international newspapers to unveil this information.
Bailly, however, declined to a comment on the names contained in the list
saying "we need to make sure first of all that this list is authenticated by
the tax havens and banks in question. This information needs to be confirmed."
"We also want EU member states to develop a shared defintion of what a tax
haven is and under what conditions a blacklist could be drawn up. We want a
list in all (EU) member states in order to punish third countries who do not
respect these principles," said the EU spokesman.
On his part, Hannes Swoboda, president of the Socilaist and Democrats Group
in the European Parliament, urged judicial proceedings and swift EU action to
control and combat tax fraud.
"Tax evasion in the EU alone comes at a cost of 1 trillion euro every year.
The new information unveiled by the ICIJ shows that criminal energy plays a
significant role in this network of organised tax evasion and that some
super-rich people are avoiding at all costs payment of their fair contribution
to government," he said in a statement.
"We need swift EU and national action to ensure that the system of secret
offshore wealth is eradicated, including fines for individuals and
corporations that engage in tax evasion," added Swooda. (end)
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