Due to the launch of the report “Benchmarking Working Europe 2017” by ETUI and ETUC, a high-level panel was organised by the Austrian Federation of Trade Unions (ÖGB) the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI), The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) and AK Europa the Permanent Representation of Austria to the EU in Brussels.

 

In order to avoid taxes, multinational companies like to hide behind complicated elaborate constructions, which consist of an intricate network of several subsidiaries, holdings, foundations and other legal forms – all of it completely within the law. A new EU Directive shall now at least bring transparency to these structures. The country-related breakdown of corporate profits shall clearly show in which countries a company generates how much profit.

 

Is there a need for reforms, what is done to meet it and which improvements are made? The so-called Reform Barometer 2016, which has been developed by the Bertelsmann Stiftung and which was presented in Brussels at the beginning of March, addresses all these questions.

 

For all intents and purposes, women and men in the EU have the same rights. At least on paper, as formal equality is confronted with structural imbalances in numerous areas.

 

According to calculations by the OECD, the tax avoidance strategies of multinational groups result in tax deficits of between 100 and 240 billion USD per annum, i.e. between 4% and 10% of annual global corporate tax. That is why the BAK essentially welcomes the draft directiveson the introduction of a Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base, because ultimately these problems can only be addressed effectively through the implementation of a group taxation However, the proposals of the Commission do not go far enough.

The draft directive 2013/34/EU as regards disclosure of income tax information by international groups (country by country reporting) is welcomed in principle by the Austrian Federal Chamberof Labour (BAK). However, in order to better combat aggressive tax planning in tax havens, in the opinion of the BAK the following amendments to the legislative proposal are required.

Launch of the ETUI/ETUC Benchmarking Working Europe 2017 report

The fight against tax avoidance continues. Two EU Directives from 2016 (the so-called Anti-BEPS Directive and the Amendments to the Money Laundering Directive) already prescribe an automatic exchange of information between Member States. Now a Directive on publicly accessible profit tax information is being prepared. On Monday this week, Evelyn Regner and Hugues Bayet, the assigned rapporteurs of the S&D group, have presented an aggravated version of the text proposed by the Commission, which is now debated in Parliament.

 

Within the framework of the Winter Package, the European Commission presented its Country Reports and provided the Council with a recommendation, which was less than pleasant for Austria: due to incorrect information of public debt, Austria needs to pay a fine of 29.8 million Euro.

 

During the last session in Strasbourg the European Parliament adopted two reports to strengthen the Digital Single Market and the European economy. Both reports contain proposals on the future of a European data infrastructure and the regulation of robots; in addition, they are. The Robotics Report is one of the first global attempts to create a legal basis with regard to artificial intelligence and advanced robot technology.