PN MEP David Casa criticised "orchestrated attacks" being made on certain individuals who attended the national protest against corruption, and called the inaction by government on this issue "scandalous".
He was speaking in the European Parliament, which discussed the effectiveness of existing measures against tax evasion and money laundering in light of recent Panama paper revelations.
"The EU has done a lot in the fight against money laundering, but the Panama Papers show that those with intentions to try and fool the system, and who have enough power, can find a way around regulations through hiding funds in complex structures.
Malta has a strong financial services industry that conforms with high regulatory standards. We have a jurisdiction which benefits from a strong reputation".
"However the actions of a small clique of those in power who chose to use Panama as a jurisdiction is not appropriate. The persons I am referring to, do not represent Malta and do not reflect the industriousness, discipline and honest character of the Maltese people".
"The Maltese, together with the majority of this house, say that acts of corruption are unacceptable and will not be tolerated".
At this point a question was asked to MEP Casa, whether it was true that a no confidence motion was going to take place because of the Panama Papers. “Yes” he said, adding that the PN is not interested in a new election or in becoming the new government now as the current government still has two more years. “The Prime Minister and the Minister concerned however, must resign”.
Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, EU Council representative explained that there is a need to continue the fight against tax fraud. “All of us are examining the implications of the Panama Papers and the response that would be needed.”
“Significant progress has been made in recent years, but not all international players have committed to playing a fair game and this is clearly the case of panama”. She said that EU Ministers will be discussing the Panama Papers later this month.
“The EU as a major international player must speak with one voice to convince our international partners to adopt standards agreed by majority”.
On money laundering, she said it is high on the EU’s Agenda especially after the Panama Papers release. She mentioned that EU Council ministers recently agreed on certain proposals, and emphasised needs to identify third countries with deficiencies in countering terrorism financing. “Member states must apply advanced due diligence measures on financial flows to and from these countries. The list should be complete by May”.
She said that EU Council Ministers also underlined the importance of speeding up anti money laundering package which the EU parliament and Council adopted last year.
“We have undertaken to improve cooperation between member states financial intelligence units”.
EU Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Taxation and Customs Pierre Moscovici said that given the scale of what was revealed and the harm caused, “it is understandable for citizens of Europe to say that this is behaviour is not acceptable”
“We need to transform public indignation into something positive and cease the opportunity to tackle tax evasion and tax fraud. We need to tackle money laundering and aggressive tax planning. We need to strengthen our programme to combat tax evasion and money laundering”.
“There’s a whole raft of measures that can be taken to strengthen our tax laws”.
He said that the EU would not be starting from scratch in this regard, saying that over the past few months, three tax reform packages were presented, including legally binding measures to avoid abuse of tax regimes. “The idea is to prevent artificial offshore structures being used to evade tax, which unfortunately happens all too often”.
“We have ambitious proposals to increase transparency in taxation around Europe with an automatic exchange of tax data between administration and companies in different countries”.
“We have a proposal to put forward a pan EU list of tax havens”. He suggested the need to step up and enhance the regulatory arsenal, mentioning that a review of the anti-money laundering directive was ordered in June last year.
He said member states must stand by pol commitments and transpose the 4th money laundering directive by end of year, which includes the identity of true ownerships of trusts and companies. “It is vital to avoid abuse of financial systems. To combat it one needs clear information on ownership”.
EPP representative said Pablo Zalba Bidegain explained that tax fraud is a global problem that can only be dealt with through a global response, involving the largest number of countries as is possible. “Setting up a company in Panama is not illegal, but it’s what you do with that company that could be. The EPP will continue to defend greater fiscal transparency and wants Mossack Fonseca and the Panama government to come before Parliament”.
“We cannot allow lawyers or countries to use such models to avoid paying tax at the expense of other countries. This is robbery”.
S&D Head Gianni Pitella said that trillions of Euros that should have been in the EU coffers are not. It’s corrupt capitalism, he said. “We should have a zero tolerance for tax havens. He called for the establishment of a committee of inquiry in parliament in order to combat tax evasion.
“We need to tackle this cancer at source and we call on commission to move forward with information and inquiries”.
Fabio De Masi from the GUE party stressed the need to do away with tax havens once and for all.
Bernard Monot from the ENF Party said that fiscal inequality is a crime. “We need to speak out against multinational companies that use systems that hide their taxes through their setup in Europe. He mentioned Apple, Google and Facebook as examples”.
Ana Gomez from the S&D said it is vital that banks, politicians and lawyers who have used offshore secrecy to avoid tax, be dealt with.
The revelation of the Panama Papers have resulted in global uproar, especially when it was found that Politically Exposed Persons were found to have companies in the secretive tax haven.
So far, the scandal has brought down the leader of Iceland (above) and raised questions about the dealings of the presidents of Argentina and Ukraine, senior Chinese politicians, famous actors, athletes and the circle of friends of Russian Vladimir Putin, who some allege has profited indirectly from such accounts. On Thursday, British Prime Minister David Cameron acknowledged he profited from his father's investments in an offshore tax haven before being elected.
"People are fed up with these outrages," Pierre Moscovici, who heads financial affairs for the 28-nation EU said previously. He took to task countries like Panama that facilitate such secretive, low-tax accounts.
"The amounts of money, the jurisdictions and the names associated with this affair are frankly shocking," he said.
Panama is listed by the EU as a country that is not cooperative on tax issues, and Moscovici urged the country to "rethink its position in this regard." The EU has to "be ready to hit them with appropriate sanctions if they refuse to change," he said.