On 4 July, the European Parliament’s plenary adopted its position on the European Commission’s proposal for public country-by-country reporting (CBCR). The approved text will now serve as the Parliament’s official position in the upcoming trialogue negotiations with the Council.
Disclosure of income tax information by certain undertakings and branches.pdf
Some of the most important elements of the Parliament’s position are:
- The 750 million EUR turnover threshold for reporting is maintained (Am 26, 28 and 32).
- In addition to the information that should be disclosed according to the Commision’s proposal, the Parliament adds: the name of the ultimate undertaking and, where applicable, the list of all its subsidiaries and their respective geographical location (Am 36); fixed assets other than cash or cash equivalents (Am 38); stated capital (Am 40); details of public subsidies received and any donations made to politicians, political organisations or political foundations (Am 65); whether undertakings, subsidiaries or branches benefit from preferential tax treatment, from a patent box or equivalent regimes (Am 41).
- Amendment 83, which introduces a waiver giving multinationals the right to withhold information that could put their commercial interests at risk. This amendment was maintained despite last-moment attempts by the S&D, GUE and Green groups to remove it before the final vote.
- Amendments 47, 48, 69 and 70 which make this Commission subject to prior authorisation by the national competent authorities and notification and assessment by the Commission.
European Council
An updated Council presidency compromise on the public CBCR proposal (dated 15 June) was circulated and discussed on 19 June. Changes compared to the last version we received late last year are marked in grey shade. The Council sticks to the main elements of its position; the most notable change concerns the possibility to not disclose certain information items when this would be “seriously prejudicial” to the commercial position of the undertaking, in line with the Parliament’s position.
Next steps
- After the summer break: trialogue negotiations set to begin