Candidates in the race to replace Jean-Claude Juncker took aim at tech giants on the subject of tax at a special debate in Brussels on Wednesday night.
ADVERTISEMENTCandidates in the race to replace Jean-Claude Juncker took aim at tech giants on the subject of tax at a special debate in Brussels on Wednesday night.
Margrethe Vestager, of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, started by saying there was work to do: "We need digital taxation. A floor on corporate taxation. Tax fairness."
"For me, a tax haven is a place where everyone pays their taxes," she said while smiling, garnering laughter and applause from the audience.
Frans Timmermans, leader of the Party of European Socialists, took aim at online giant Amazon in an impassioned speech.
"We are in the fourth Industrial Revolution," he said. "Companies have found ways not to pay taxes at all.
"We should keep asking Alexa: 'Amazon, when are you going to pay taxes?'"
The panel included: Nico Cue (European Left); Ska Keller (European Green Party); Jan Zahradil (Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists in Europe); Margrethe Vestager (Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe); Manfred Weber (European People’s Party) and Frans Timmermans (Party of European Socialists).
Participants also addressed the topics of the environment and the rise of Populism in Europe, among others.
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