Der offene Brief an die LuxLeaks-Whistleblower Antoine Deltour und Raphael Halet soll ein wichtiges Zeichen für mehr Steuergerechtigkeit und den Schutz von WhistleblowerInnen setzen! Wir stehen für Solidarität mit Antoine und Raphaël und sagen nein zu Steuerparadiesen.
Dear Raphael and Antoine,
We, the undersigned Members of the European Parliament, are writing to express our support and solidarity with you in light of the on-going judicial proceedings against you in Luxembourg. We salute your courage over the past years and your tenacity in trying to overturn the 29 June verdict. Clearly, the Luxembourg Leaks had a decisive impact for the debate on tax transparency and tax justice. The European Citizen’s Prize for Antoine Deltour in 2015 underlines this.
We can only but agree with judge Marc Thill who stressed in his deliberations that both of you should be considered as „whistleblowers“ and that the facts which you exposed are of crucial public interest by virtue of their contribution to a more transparent and fairer tax system. We certainly respect the independence of the Luxembourg judiciary but we were shocked and angered by your conviction despite the recognition by the court of your status.
We also take very seriously the reference made in the verdict regarding the lack of comprehensive whistleblower protection legislation at national and at European Union levels. In fact, the European Parliament as a whole has repeatedly urged the European Commission and member state governments to introduce concrete proposals for a robust and comprehensive framework of protection for whistleblowers. Your ordeal and the ramification they have for all of us were also debated at the July Strasbourg plenary session of the Parliament.
We will continue to push for sufficient legislative protection for whistleblowers in the months and, if needs be, years ahead. The European Commission’s recognition of the importance of the matter in its 5 July Communication on tax transparency will hopefully translate into tangible action soon.
Moreover, we remain hopeful that the additional revelations during your trial concerning the intimate ties between the Luxembourg tax administration and corporations like PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) – going as far as these corporations operating with government letter heads without any contractual basis – will be investigated upon by all possible means. Crucially, individuals such as Marius Kohl who regrettably collaborated little with your court case and our parliamentary TAXE committee will be hopefully requested to provide adequate responses concerning these practices before the relevant statutory limitation becomes applicable in Luxembourg.
We wish you well.
Yours sincerely,
Isabella Adinolfi (EFDD)
Daniela Aiuto (EFDD)
Marina Albiol Guzman (GUE/NGL)
Jan Philipp Albrecht (Greens/EFA)
Martina Anderson (GUE/NGL)
Max Andersson (Greens/EFA)
Eric Andrieu (S&D)
Maria Arena (S&D)
Margrete Auken (Greens/EFA)
Hugues Bayet (S&D)
Tiziana Beghin (EFDD)
Jávor Benedek (Greens/EFA)
Brando Benifei (S&D)
Xabier Benito Ziluaga (GUE/NGL)
Pervenche Berès (S&D)
Malin Björk (GUE/NGL)
Lynn Boylan (GUE/NGL)
Klaus Büchner (Greens/EFA)
Reinhard Bütikofer (Greens/EFA)
Matt Carthy (GUE/NGL)
Fabio Massimo Castaldo (EFDD)
Nessa Childers (S&D)
Kostas Chrysogonos (GUE/NGL)
Sergio Cofferati (S&D)
Ignazio Corrao (EFDD)
Jakop Dalunde (Greens/EFA)
Rosa D’Amato (EFDD)
Dennis De Jong (GUE/NGL)
Fabio De Masi (GUE/NGL)
Anneliese Dodds (S&D)
Pascal Durand (Greens/EFA)
Stefan Eck (GUE/NGL)
Tanja Fajon (S&D)
Laura Ferrara (EFDD)
Luke Ming Flanagan (GUE/NGL)
Sven Giegold (Greens/EFA)
María Teresa Giménez Barbat (ALDE)
Ana Maria Gomes (S&D)
Tania Gonzales (GUE/NGL)
Sylvie Guillaume (S&D)
Heidi Hautala (Greens/EFA)
Maria Heubuch (Greens/EFA)
Yannick Jadot (Greens/EFA)
Ramón Jáuregui Atondo (S&D)
Eva Joly (Greens/EFA)
Agnes Jongerius (S&D)
Iosu Juaristi Abaunz (GUE/NGL)
Rina Ronja Kari (GUE/NGL)
Jeppe Kofod (S&D)
Kateřina Konečná (GUE/NGL)
Dietmar Köster (S&D)
Stelios Kouloglou (GUE/NGL)
Kostadinka Kuneva (GUE/NGL)
Merja Kyllönen (GUE/NGL)
Philippe Lamberts (Greens/EFA)
Patrick Le Hyaric (GUE/NGL)
Juan Fernando López Aguilar (S&D)
Paloma Lopez Bermejo (GUE/NGL)
Sabine Lösing (GUE/NGL)
Olle Ludvigsson (S&D)
Curzio Maltese (GUE/NGL)
Louis-Joseph Manscour (S&D)
Ernest Maragall (Greens/EFA)
Edouard Martin (S&D)
Jiří Mastalka (GUE/NGL)
Marisa Matias (GUE/NGL)
Emmanuel Maurel (S&D)
Martina Michels (GUE/NGL)
Javier Nart (ALDE)
Liadh Ní Riada (GUE/NGL)
Dimitrios Papadimoulis (GUE/NGL)
Gilles Pargneaux (S&D)
Piernicola Pedicini (EFDD)
Vincent Peillon (S&D)
Georgi Pirinski (S&D)
Carolina Punset (ALDE)
Julia Reda (Greens/EFA)
Evelyn Regner (S&D)
Michel Reimon (Greens/EFA)
Christine Revault d’Allonnes-Bonnefoy (S&D)
Michèle Rivasi (Greens/EFA)
Bronis Ropé (Greens/EFA)
Virginie Rozière (S&D)
Pirkko Ruohonen-Lerner (ECR)
Lola Sánchez Caldentey (GUE/NGL)
Christel Schaldemose (S&D)
Elly Schlein (S&D)
Helmut Scholz (GUE/NGL)
Molly Scott Cato (Greens/EFA)
Jordi Sebastià (Greens/EFA)
Lídia Senra Rodríguez (GUE/NGL)
Barbara Spinelli (GUE/NGL)
Bart Staes (Greens/EFA)
Neoklis Sylikiotis (GUE/NGL)
Josep-Maria Terricabras (Greens/EFA)
Isabelle Thomas (S&D)
Nils Torvalds (ALDE)
Miguel Urban Crespo (GUE/NGL)
Ernest Urtasun (Greens/EFA)
Marco Valli (EFDD)
Angela Vallina (GUE/NGL)
Monika Vana (Greens/EFA)
Marie-Christine Vergiat (GUE/NGL)
Miguel Viegas (GUE/NGL)
Marco Zanni (EFDD)
Tomáš Zdechovský (EPP)
Gabriele Zimmer (GUE/NGL)
Marco Zullo (EFDD)