An amendment to the PANA report's recommendations, which sought to define Malta, along with the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Ireland, to be listed as tax havens, has been narrowly rejected in a stalemate vote.
The amendment was backed by the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats, of which the Labour Party forms part.
It was rejected with 327 MEPs voting in favour, 327 against, and 24 abstentions.
All Maltese MEPs voted against the amendment.
The amendment pushed by EP socialists read that the EP:
“Notes that, according to the most recent Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) data on foreign direct investment, Luxembourg and the Netherlands combined have more inward investment than the US, the vast majority of which is in special-purpose entities with no substantial economic activity, and Ireland has more inward investment than either Germany or France;
“Points out that, according to its National Statistics Office, foreign investment in Malta amounts to 1474% of the size of its economy;
“Notes that, according to research carried out by the University of Amsterdam, 23% of all corporate investments that ended up in tax havens passed through the Netherlands;
“Believes that these data are a clear indication that some member states are facilitating excessing profit-shifting activities at the expense of other member states;
“Calls, therefore, on the Commission to regard Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Ireland and Malta as EU tax havens.”
The European Parliament did approve the resolution, without the amendment, that was compiled by the PANA committee rapporteurs, following its report into money laundering, tax avoidance and tax evasion.
PANA Report rapporteur Jeppe Kofod, during the debate on Tuesday, called for the introduction of a minimum corporate tax rate, to stop "the sick race to the bottom on taxation and regulation", while also lamenting the serious lack of sincere cooperation between the EP and council when compiling the report.
The recommendations will now be passed on to the European Commission and the Council.
Speaking to The Malta Independent, PN MEP David Casa said that the EPP group voted against the amendment.
"During the past few days, Roberta Metsola, Francis Zammit Dimech, and myself, met other MEPs individually from other political groups (mainly ALDE and ECR ) to make sure we secure a majority in Parliament," he said.
During the debate, Kofod's fellow rapporteur, Petr Jezek, said that he believed that Malta, which was mentioned several times throughout the debate, was not a tax haven but was not cooperative in the fight against tax evasion and avoidance.