PARIS/BRUSSELS: A senior aide defended European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker yesterday against charges of having provided a haven for corporate tax avoidance in Luxembourg, saying the entire new EU executive was committed to stamping out tax evasion.
Juncker, 59, who was the tiny Grand Duchy’s finance minister from 1989 and prime minister in 1995-2013, has avoided the media since a network of investigative journalists reported last week that Luxembourg had granted sweetheart deals to some 340 multinationals allowing them to avoid billions of euros in tax.
Asked when the Commission chief would answer questions on the affair, his spokesman, Magaritis Schinas, told a Brussels news briefing: “Juncker will choose the moment himself to say what he has to say, either at the G20 or at some other time.”
An EU official said Juncker was expected to take part in a news conference in Brisbane, Australia, next Saturday, during the Nov. 15-16 global economic summit.
After chairing his inaugural meeting last Wednesday, Juncker said he felt no conflict of interest and would not interfere with an investigation by the Commission’s competition department into Luxembourg’s so-called tax rulings, which enabled companies to pay minimal tax on profits channeled via the country. EU authorities are also investigating corporate tax avoidance schemes in Ireland and the Netherlands on suspicion that they may constitute illicit state aid to business. Global brands such as PepsiCo, Amazon, insurer AIG and Deutsche Bank AG are reported to have benefited from such deals with Luxembourg, a flourishing offshore financial centre with a population of just 560,000.
The affair has overshadowed the start of what Juncker has billed as “Europe’s last chance”. His team has promised swift action to revive a stagnant economy and combat mass unemployment by boosting public and private investment and economic reforms.Reuters
