Tax transparency: EU development

Richard Murphy points to a press release from Global Witness regarding developments in country-by-country reporting for the extractive industries in the EU:

Global Witness welcome today's European Parliamentary committee vote requiring that EU oil, gas, mining and timber companies publish their payments to governments to help deter corruption.  

The vote brings Europe one step closer to shining a light on payments worth billions of Euros by extractive companies to governments, which have previously remained secret, enabling corrupt government officials to siphon off or misappropriate natural resource revenues.

...The text also contains thresholds for payments that align with similar US 'sunshine' rules for US listed extractives companies set at the end of August.

...a final version of the directive goes to all MEPs for a European Parliamentary vote later in the year.

Arlene McCarthy MEP, the Parliament Rapporteur on the Transparency law, said after the vote in the legal affairs committee: "With this vote we now have a strong negotiating mandate to force the Member States and Commission to accept the Parliament's amendments, putting us on track to create strong global transparency standards, with equivalent rules in the EU and the US." 

More at the link.