Debate: Recommendations of the Commission on public country by country reporting transposition
Date: THURSDAY, 13 JULY 2023
Speaker: Mairead McGuinness
Language: EN

We are working hard to promote effective transposition that maintains the level playing field and avoids the risk of regulatory arbitrage. But I would stress again, colleagues: those who want Member States to have more ambition, they remain free, of course, to go beyond this Directive. I also would take note of the remark that was made by a colleague who said undue interference on Member States. And perhaps from my experience of being a parliamentarian and now a Commissioner, I would say that Member States don’t welcome undue interference, but they do welcome guidelines and clarity, and it is our job as a Commission to do that when it is required. I think in this particular case, when we talk about the implications of gold-plating in the information note we sent to Member States, it is important we do that where it applies to third-country multinationals who are operating in the European Union through branches and subsidiaries, because they can be located in several Member States. Patchy implementation of the country-by-country reporting due to gold-plating could lead to an unlevel playing field and potentially to forum shopping by third country multinationals. As a briefing requested by the JURI Committee of the European Parliament in 2018 rightly indicated, gold-plating of EU measures may significantly hinder the implementation of EU law, and national parliaments should strive to avoid this practice. Again, as the guardians of the Treaty, the Commission should recall the risks associated with the practice, and indeed that’s what we have done in the information note. One of the colleagues mentioned that 17 Member States have not yet transposed; 10 have. We will do our duty to make sure that the 17 get more active on this important piece of legislation, and implement fully and effectively. I want to go through some of the questions and reply to them, if I may. First of all, I thank my former colleague, Markus Ferber, for his appreciation of my work. As he said himself, he doesn’t often praise me so it’s welcome. However, I also respect the work of our rapporteur, Ms Regner. And I would say, with all due respect, about the word ‘appears’ to limit transparency. I voted for this as a Member of this Parliament. I would not stand over anything that gives the appearance or, indeed, the possibility of limiting transparency. You and I both know that this is important for public trust and for the European Union to lead in this regard. I also would say that, again, I think the comment was made that we would lower the ambition of some Member States. We cannot and would not insist on lowering the ambition of Member States. They are free to go further. We just point out the level playing field implications. And again, if the word used is it ‘seems’ that this is undue interference, this is indeed not the case. We would have had discussions with Member States and stakeholders about implementation. We were answering questions that they had raised with us. Ms Aubry, thank you for your intervention. I absolutely agree with you that we need to shine a light on this, and your work in this Parliament – and mine when I was here – did just that around transparency. I would thank you for the new letter of yesterday, which I have read and, indeed, will be replying to. But you asked me a very important question and I need to answer this, because we know we have worked together over time. You asked me, ‘who are you working for?’ In this House, as an elected member of this House, I worked for the people that I represented in my Member State. My role now as a Commissioner is to make sure that we as a Commission do our duty: guardians of the Treaty, respect the work of the co-legislators, make proposals and then, when they’re amended, see that they are fully implemented. I have no other authority or individual to report to, and I absolutely – because of my work here in this Parliament, and I hope that the public gallery will appreciate this – those in this House who work very hard on legislation are committed to the public good, as I am. So I hope that gives you some comfort in relation to your particular questions. So, to finalise my comments, I think this is very useful. I think the Commission should be kept on our toes, and I appreciate and fully respect your role in that regard. But I hope that today’s comments by me and my further replies to your letter will convince you – if that is still necessary – that we are fully focused on effective implementation of this transparency Directive on tax. I was going to say timely but, as you know, 17 Member States have not yet done the work. We will now focus on them and make sure that they do. We will also be checking that the transposition work of the 10 Member States who have complied is effective. So thank you for this opportunity. And if I don’t get the chance again, could I wish you all a relaxing summer break. I think we all need it.