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The true scandal is that most of the schemes used by BASF are legal, and a consequence of fierce tax competition between EU member states, says Oxfam in reaction to the Greens/EFA group report on aggressive tax planning practices of German chemical giant BASF.

Oxfam welcomes the action plan put forward today by the European Commission for the EU to catch up on its commitments towards the Millennium Development Goals. Member states must give their go-ahead at the EU summit in June.

In reaction to the coronavirus pandemic reaching 1 million confirmed cases, Oxfam interim Executive Director Chema Vera, said today: "This is a grim milestone that must spur the international community to take immediate action. We must tackle this pandemic with single-minded determination, and as one."

In an open letter, a large coalition of civil society organizations and trade unions, including Oxfam, is asking European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker for a more ambitious proposal on tax transparency.

Responding to the World Bank's proposal of a $12 billion initiative to help poor countries purchase COVID-19 vaccines, Anna Marriott, Health Policy Advisor at Oxfam, said: "The World Bank is right to be concerned about whether poorer countries will be able to afford COVID-19 vaccines and treatments and they should use their influence accordingly."

"The failure to cancel debt payments will only delay the tsunami of debt that will engulf many of the world’s poorest countries, leaving them unable to afford the investment in healthcare and social safety nets so desperately needed", said Jaime Atienza, Oxfam International's Debt Policy Lead, in reaction to the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting.

The EU will soon release a blacklist of tax havens operating outside the EU, and issue penalties for those appearing on it. This report shows what a robust blacklist would look like if the EU were to objectively apply its own criteria and not bow to political pressure.

The EU has whitewashed two of the world’s most harmful tax havens in today's review of the its tax haven list, says Oxfam.

In response to the announcement that AstraZeneca is to move away from the non-profit model for COVID vaccines, Anna Marriott, Oxfam’s Health Policy Manager and spokesperson for the People’s Vaccine Alliance, said: “AstraZeneca is breaking its repeated and celebrated public promises of a non-profit vaccine for all countries for the duration of this pandemic and to never to make a profit in any low- and middle-income country from this publicly funded vaccine."  

Wealthy nations representing just 13 percent of the world’s population have already cornered more than half (51 percent) of the promised doses of leading COVID-19 vaccine candidates, Oxfam warned today as the health and finance ministers of G20 countries meet to discuss the global pandemic.