Brussels 2019 Policy & Advocacy Workshop

On 10 December, the Presidents of Jesuit Conferences in Europe and Africa as well as the Social Affairs Commission of the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the EU invited 30 representatives of the European Parliament, the European Commission as well as tax experts from a NGO and church background to attend a closed workshop taking place at the Representation of the Free State of Bavaria to the European Union (photo right). Since the discussions falls under Chatham House Rules, the provision of information linked to this event are limited. Here the Guiding Questions for the workshop, statements will be published below once authorized.

Programme

9.00-9.20        Welcome Morning Session

  • Barbara Schretter, Director, Representation of the Free State of Bavaria to the EU
  • Fr Franck Janin SJ, President of the European Conference of Jesuit Provincials (Statement)

9.20 – 9.45      Introduction on the tax justice and poverty research project

  • Fr Jörg Alt SJ, Jesuitenmission Deutschland, project coordinator (Europe), ethicist and sociologist (Statement)
  • Fr Charles Chilufya SJ, Director, Justice & Ecology Office of the Jesuit Conference on Africa and Madagascar, project coordinator (Africa) (Statement)
  • Liz Nelson, Director of Tax Justice and Human Rights Programme, Tax Justice Network International (Statement)

9.45 – 10.15    International initiatives on tackling tax dodging and IFFs

  • EU-Initiatives: Olivia Lally, Senior Policy and Advocacy Adviser – Tax Justice, European Network on Debt and Development (Eurodad) (Statement)
  • OECD and others: Joseph Stead, Senior Policy Analysis, Centre for Tax Policy and Administration, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

Open discussion, Lunch

13.00-13.20   Welcome Afternoon Session

  • Julia Uckelmann, Head of Affairs for the Bavarian State Ministry of Finance and Regional Identity
  • Fr Manuel Barrios Prieto, General Secretary of the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the EU (COMECE) (Statement)

13.20-14.00    Statements from the European Commission

  • Emer Traynor, Deputy Head of Unit, Company Taxation, DG Taxation and Customs Union (TAXUD), European Commission
  • Benedikt Madl, Head of Sector, Domestic Revenue Mobilisation, DG International Cooperation and Development (DEVCO), European Commission

14.00-15.00    Statements from the European Parliament

  • MEP Evelyn Regner (S&D), Chair of the FEMM committee, European Parliament (Statement)
  • MEP Markus Ferber (EPP), member of the ECON committee, European Parliament (Statement)
  • MEP Sven Giegold (Greens/EFA), member of the ECON committee, European Parliament (Statement)

Open Discussion, Summarizing, The Way Forward

Complementary Programme

This workshop is complemented by a series of meetings with parlamentarian and governmental representatives in Bonn and Berlin. The media reported, e.g. the Catholic News Agency Germany.