by
Stelios Kouloglou*
"They
have no shame at all", was written in a banner of some
protesters. Only a week after Panama Papers, that were revealing
thousands of offshore companies which have been set up by famous
individuals and companies to escape from taxation, what do you think
the majority of the European parliament has voted for? It has voted
for the legal protection of the secrets of companies against any
potential attempt to be published!
Within the
next 2 years, the 28 member states are obliged to adjust their
legislation, so that the secrets of the corporations should be
protected more efficiently, and those who will dare to publish them,
should be prosecuted further. The initiative for the new legislation
came from Merkel's and Schäuble's European People's Party (New
Democracy belongs to the family), with the argument that more and
more corporations become victims of leaks and industrial espionage.
In reality,
a unified lobby of some big multinational corporations, like Intel,
Alstom, Michelin, Solvay, Safran, Nestlé, General Electric, etc.,
have imposed their policy to the European parliament by securing the
consent of Verhofstadt's (neo)liberals and the so-called
(unfortunately) Socialists. Only the Greens and the European United
Left opposed the legislation. All these, at the same time where
500,000 citizens have signed a paper through which the new
legislation was characterized as a serious threat against the right
of citizens for access to information, demanding its withdrawal.
On the basis
of the new regime, the corporations will have the right to go to the
courts and request compensation, in case that they decide that any
leak of their secrets or simply their data to the media, will cause
them economic damage. Also, an amendment proposed by the Left and the
Greens, according to which the journalists should not be convicted
because they are doing their job, was rejected.
According to
the rapporteurs of the majority, it is for the courts to decide if
journalists are breaking the law. Even better, the latter will decide
whether they will risk money and personal freedom, by standing
against the enormous power of multinational corporations.
Things
become more clear considering the recent case of Panama Papers. The
creation and ownership of an offshore company is not considered
illegal. Therefore, anyone who will be prosecuted for leaking
information, could not support to the court that he/she exposes an
illegal action.
Such an
action is only morally condemnable because is being used for tax
evasion in the country of the company. Thousands of those companies
that have become known through Panama Papers for having offshore
subsidiaries could use the new European directive, requesting
conviction for the media and the journalists who have published their
names. Obviously, Panama Papers would never had been published.
Things can
become even worse concerning other cases like LuxLeaks, through which
it has been revealed that Luxemburg was - and still is - a tax haven
at the expense of the rest of the European "partners".
That's because in this case, not only there is nothing illegal, but
the mechanism of the tax evasion was orchestrated and legislated by
the state of Luxemburg. Besides, this is the reason for which the
whistleblower Antoine Deltour, as well as, Edouard Perrin, the
journalist who published LuxLeaks scandal, are going to trial next
week in the Large Dukedom of Jean-Claude Juncker.
Translated
from the original source:
Related:
Read
also:
Juncker-Verhofstadt: Lobbies and groups of interests in the EU are unavoidable!
*
Stelios Kouloglou is MEP with the Confederal Group of the European
United Left - Nordic Green Left and SYRIZA
Nice post...I look forward to reading more, and getting a more active part in the talks here, whilst picking up some knowledge as well..
ReplyDeletehumidity chamber manufacturer