Labour MEP Alfred Sant has been appointed a member of FISC, the permanent tax subcommittee of the Economic and Monetary affairs committee in the European Parliament. FISC was recently created as part of the fight against tax fraud and for financial transparency.
After a series of special committees and a committee of inquiry, created to delve into the various tax leaks and scandals of recent years, the plenary session of the European Parliament in June of this year agreed on a mandate for a more permanent setup to shed light on the matter.
The subcommittee on tax matters will deal particularly with the fight against tax fraud, tax evasion and tax avoidance, as well as financial transparency for taxation purposes.
In 2019, in the final report of the Special Committee on Financial Crimes, Tax Evasion and Tax Avoidance (TAX3 Committee), the EP voted in favour of the creation of a permanent structure in the form of a subcommittee to ECON, the economic and financial committee of the EP. It follows the work of four successive special/inquiry Committees on tax and money laundering.
During his years as an MEP, Alfred Sant accomplished a number of achievements with his participation in the previous special committees on tax, most notably in the protection of whistleblowers and in tax transparency. Alfred Sant’s membership of FISC is particularly important in view of Malta’s commitment in favour of reforms to strengthen the country’s institutions and enhance good governance as well as the on-going dialogue between the Maltese Government and EU institutions on governance, enforcement of the anti-money laundering framework and the fight against financial crime.