Articles & News

To: Algirdas Šemeta, Commissioner, Taxation and Customs Union (TAXUD)

From: Arbeiterkammer, Corporate Europe Observatory, European Public Health Alliance, Lobby Control, Österreichischer Gewerkschaftsbund

Re: Conflicts of interest within the new Platform for Tax Good Governance undermines the Commission's efforts to tackle tax evasion and avoidance

Date: Monday 10 June, 2013

 

For the first time in their history, European institutions will reform the entire package of legislation related to seed marketing. Since seeds are the starting point for the whole human food chain, this is hugely significant. From the very start of the process this policy initiative has been an unique opportunity for large seed companies to reinforce their control over a commercial seed supply system that they already largely dominate.

The report shows that Petite had a central role in the events that led to Dalli's forced resignation (under yet to be clarified circumstances, following bribery accusations) in mid-October 2012. Petite assisted tobacco company Swedish Match in submitting the complaint that triggered the OLAF investigation into the Dalli case, using his access to the Commission's Secretary-General Catherine Day, a former colleague at the European Commission.

In a remarkable statement on its website, OLAF writes that the 41 paragraph summary of the evaluation report of OLAF’s Supervisory Committee on OLAF’s investigations into the Dalli case that Corporate Europe Observatory published on this website on Tuesday 23 April, is part of “attempts to mislead and manipulate public opinion”. OLAF’s short statement does not go into the contents of the summary. There is therefore no reason to believe that the summary does not adequately reflect the content of the (still confidential) Supervisory Committee on OLAF’s investigations into the Dalli case.