EU

EU governments are unwilling to tackle large-scale tax avoidance of multinational companies, Oxfam says in reaction to a new directive formally approved today.

With its new ‘migration compact’, the EU rewriting its foreign policy so that it serves the single objective of stopping people from coming to Europe, Oxfam said.

Oxfam, together with a coalition of development NGOs, calls on European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker to make Europe become a leader on the global agenda for development and the fight against poverty.

Governments tried to further water down an already weak legislative proposal, Oxfam said in response to the EU finance ministers’ failure to agree on new measures against corporate tax dodging.

EU foreign ministers assessing the six months since November’s Valletta Summit on migration from Africa must shift their focus to the urgent needs of people fleeing from violence and human rights abuses, said Oxfam and ICMC.

The EU must urgently re-think its collective treatment of people arriving at Europe’s borders and ensure that every human being, no matter their status, enjoys the basic respect of their rights and fundamental dignity. 

The European Commission has missed yet another chance to effectively end tax havens. Today’s tax transparency proposal is not sufficiently ambitious and too limited in its scope for that task.

New proposals from the European Commission on migration are a first step toward creating safe and legal routes for people on the move, says Oxfam.

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.

The return of people from Greece to Turkey takes Europe yet another step closer to a policy of deterrence and indifference, Oxfam says in reaction to deportations starting today.