The TAXE special committee sent invitations to various multinational enterprises in order to question them about their tax policies and practices, a number of these companies disregarded this invitation.
In response to this, the president of the Socialists and Democrats Group in the European Parliament Gianni Pittella said:
"The multinational enterprises that refused to respond to questions from the temporary TAXE committee will be banned from holding meetings with MEPs or staff from the S&D Group until further notice.
"Our group has obtained the establishment of the special committee on tax fraud and avoidance (TAXE) and we want this committee to work and be effective in its aim of establishing a fair system of company taxation across Europe.
"The S&D Group particularly disapproves of the refusal to accept the invitation as it came from publicly appointed investigation bodies. We expect fair and respectful cooperation from all companies involved."
Peter Simon, S&D coordinator of the TAXE special committee, stated:
"Those who behave in such a disrespectful manner towards an appointed parliamentary committee cannot count on MEPs' willingness to enter into a dialogue on other subjects. It takes two to have a dialogue. However if one of the two shows an attitude that can hardly be called democratic, there have to be consequences.
"These companies should quickly reconsider their attitude. Therefore, we have again invited them to a TAXE special committee meeting on 16th of November. Now it is their turn to show their true colours. Our message is unequivocal: those who act against the public interest are not welcome. As long as they do not change their behaviour, we will uphold the ban on any interaction with them."
You can find the list of the multinational companies censored here
