In 2017, the Commission launched a new training and networking project for civil society around Europe. This involves a series of seminars on international and EU corporate tax issues.
The seminars take place in Brussels and are an excellent opportunity to learn more about the problem of tax avoidance, why it is relevant to you and how to tackle it. It will also be a chance to meet other organisations and policy-makers involved in the campaign for fairtaxation.
Participants are also invited to attend a high-level conference on tax fairness, planned for the summer of 2017, from 28 to 29 June.
How can you attend the seminars?
Do you represent an EU-based not-for-profit organisation? Do you want to do more to fight tax fraud, tax evasion and tax avoidance?
You are welcome to join one of our training sessions. The trainings will take place in Brussels, with different sessions of 1.5 day planned between February and June 2017 in Brussels.
Costs of participation, including travel and accommodation, will be reimbursed.
Benefits:
Increase your organisation's knowledge of international tax practices.
Network and connect with other civil society organisations and EU policy makers.
Participants are also invited to attend a high-level conference on tax fairness, planned for the summer of 2017, from 28 to 29 June.
How can you get involved?
Join us for the two day conference on fair taxation in Brussels! You can register here.
What the participants saysvg
Paul
Monaghan Sandra
Martinsone Mikhail
Maslennikov Kasia
Szeniawska Vid
Tomic
Paul Monaghan, Co-founder, Fair Tax Mark, UK
"There are many businesses out there that pay their tax willingly because they understand the necessary contribution that it makes to society," says Paul Monaghan. "A lot of these businesses are quite angry – as angry as the general public – when they hear stories of companies shirking their responsibility."
svgclose
Sandra Martinsone – ActionAid, UK
Sandra manages an international advocacy campaign project on tax justice and therefore has good understanding of the issues involved. She nonetheless hoped to learn more still by attending the training, to become even more effective in her work, and to see whether she could identify any knowledge gaps. The event provided her with greater practical understanding of how tax avoidance works in real life, and introduced her to a Commission report on aggressive tax planning of which she had been unaware. "I’m very much looking forward now to reading this report and learning more," she says.
svgclose
Mikhail Maslennikov, Oxfam, Italien
Mikhail Maslennikov is a policy advisor on tax issues, so follows policy developments and implementation at OECD and EU level. Already an expert in his field, he wanted to have a systematised picture of international tax avoidance schemes, planning, structures.
Oxfam already offers training on some of the same issues, but Mr Malennikov believes they will now replicate some aspects of the Brussels training "There was a good level of technical assessment," he says, which was presented at just the right level: "technical, but not too simplistic – somewhere in the middle."
svgclose
Kasia Szeniawska, Poland/Belgium, ActionAid International
Tax justice is a key campaign and a key concern for Action Aid, so this training was an excellent opportunity. "I decided to attend because European tax policies have an enormous impact on developing countries, and it is really important for me to understand how they work and what their impact is," says Kasia Szeniawska.
She particularly appreciated sessions on the different structures put in place by multinational companies to decrease tax obligations, which, she says, increased her understanding of the solutions she can apply in her projects. As the training ended, Ms Szeniawska was planning to look further into such "tricks" used by companies, as well as the EU policies on the table to counter these.
svgclose
Vid Tomic, Transparency International, Slovenia
Transparency International is the largest network of NGOs tackling corruption, and the accessibility of this training for these NGOs – particular smaller NGOs – made it particularly attractive.
In addition to increased understanding of tax policies and how to apply for EU funding, Vid Tomic came away feeling inspired. "It empowers you. For example, it will help me to identify red flags, especially when we deal with multinational companies. I learned a lot about the institutional framework in the EU when it comes to handling tax policies."
svgCurious? Check out this infographic and watch this video to find out more about the seminarssvg - do not remove this
