Emphasising longstanding Left criticism of Commission President Juncker's record in helping to make Luxembourg a major tax hideaway, GUE/NGL President Gabi Zimmer tonight urged MEPs to back proposals for the LuxLeaks affair to be investigated by a parliamentary committee of inquiry and reiterated that her group would not support the far-right motion of censure.

“Our criticism of you remains in place and was voiced during your first hearing” she told the Commission President. “Your reaction to this scandal has been disappointing. You said that 22 EU states had similar systems in practice and that you couldn't speak about the affair due to your role as Commission President. That's just not good enough.”

“We need a proper investigation to shine a light on these national systems of tax dodging competition. The LuxLeaks documentation is connected to PricewaterhouseCoopers and lists 340 companies on which there were over 500 tax rulings in Luxembourg. As other Member States apply similar tax evasion systems for the benefit of corporations and to the detriment of the EU population, we urgently need to discuss how to stop that and how to finance a European integration based on solidarity.”

“We are disappointed with the Green and Social Democrat MEPs who didn't grab the opportunity to back a left-wing motion of censure that would have let us come together to discuss what kind of Europe we want.”

The GUE/NGL group is made up of 52 MEPs from across Europe working for peace, solidarity, social justice, equality, democracy and human rights in Europe and beyond. It is the only gender balanced group in the European Parliament.

GUE/NGL Press:

David Lundy +32 470 85 05 09

Gay Kavanagh +32 473 84 23 20

Emily Macintosh +32 470 85 05 08