Até a Bloomberg o diz: (...) Juncker, you could say, made his country rich by picking the pockets of other countries, including those of the European Union he is now mandated to serve. The commission was already conducting an investigation of Luxembourgs tax arrangements. Juncker says he wont interfere -- but he wont recuse himself, either. Indeed, his spokesman says he is serene in the face of the revelations. He shouldnt be. At this point, he could best serve the European project by resigning. Junckers position as the head of the body investigating the tax practices he oversaw as prime minister is a clear conflict of interest. Its possible the commission will find nothing improper about Luxembourgs tax-avoidance paradise: The EU allows member governments wide latitude in taxing companies, so long as they dont favor some over others. But with Juncker in charge of the commission, any such exoneration will fail to command public confidence. Just now, the importance of restoring trust in the EU would be hard to overstate. The union is struggling to emerge from the financial crisis and is increasingly seen as elitist, meddling and incapable of producing either fairness or growth. It cannot help this effort to have it overseen by a man who spent his career as a quintessential backroom dealer while building and running an international tax haven at other European countries expense. Granted, most of this was known - or should have been - before the appointment was made, and the European Parliament is much at fault for insisting on Junckers appointment in the first place. But the tax revelations have put the issues before the public in a way that tests the EUs credibility afresh. (...)
Posted on: Mon, 10 Nov 2014 19:26:02 +0000
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