European Citizen's Prize presented to Antoine Deltour in Brussels
Press release
Épinal, France, 14 October 2015
On Wednesday, October 14th, the European Citizen's Prize 2015 is presented to Antoine Deltour in the Parliament in Brussels, two weeks after the national award ceremony that took place in Paris on September 30th.
Antoine Deltour is the main whistleblower of the LuxLeaks affair. He contributed to the disclosure of numerous tax rulings issued by Luxembourg authorities to the benefits of hundreds of multinational companies; these documents have proven to be crucial to the understanding of the tax avoidance mechanisms in use in Luxembourg.
Further to the scandal caused by these revelations, the European Parliament decided to set up the “TAXE” special committee to investigate the tax practices of the Member states of the European Union. On the occasion of Antoine Deltour's hearing, this committee praised the general interest of his action; numerous members of the European Parliament congratulated him for his courage and his exemplary behaviour. Besides, the echo of the LuxLeaks affair gives to the European Commission the opportunity to advance its program to clamp down on tax avoidance practices of companies; in particular, the Commission has already proposed some measures –albeit perfectible– for greater tax transparency in Member states.
The Support Committee to Antoine Deltour is delighted that the European Citizen's Prize is awarded to him. This official distinction is a great recognition of the legitimacy of his disinterested whistleblower action.
However, isn't it contradictory that the very same facts which make of Antoine Deltour an exemplary European citizen lead him to be charged by Luxembourg authorities where he risks 5 years' imprisonment and a fine of 1,250,000 Euro?
Antoine Deltour's action deserves a wide support! His support committee invites all the European citizens to visit the website https://support-antoine.org/en and contribute to his defence.
Press contact
Comité de soutien à Antoine Deltour
BP 1006
88050 EPINAL Cedex 9
France
Email: contact@support-antoine.org
Twitter: @support_antoine
FaceBook: Support Antoine