{"id":26970,"date":"2014-12-09T08:32:02","date_gmt":"2014-12-09T08:32:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/?p=26970"},"modified":"2014-12-09T08:32:02","modified_gmt":"2014-12-09T08:32:02","slug":"juncker-has-to-show-his-colours-in-the-fight-on-corruption","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/2014\/12\/09\/juncker-has-to-show-his-colours-in-the-fight-on-corruption\/","title":{"rendered":"Juncker has to show his colours in the fight on corruption"},"content":{"rendered":"

This letter was in the Guardian this morning,<\/a> and I warmly endorse its message:<\/em><\/p>\n

As investigative journalists, we believe in the critical role of the media in holding institutions to account, exposing corruption, and challenging threats to the social contract between states and citizens which are so critical to democracy.<\/p>\n

The \u201cLux Leaks\u201d scandal (Revealed: tax deals saving firms billions<\/a>, 6 November) is a recent example of the kind of corrosive deals that big companies are able to extract from countries when they think no one will see. Sweetheart deals, facilitated by accountants and law firms, are depriving European states and countries around the world of billions of euros at a time when austerity is undermining the ability of governments to provide basic public services.<\/p>\n

Investigative journalists seeking to challenge corruption rely on the courage of whistleblowers. But equally, we need access to timely information on how companies and trusts are used to funnel corrupt money through the European financial system. The EU anti-money-laundering directive<\/a> offers an opportunity to ensure that information on the ownership of companies and trusts is available to the public, allowing journalists, NGOs and indeed anyone to monitor the links between suspected criminals and their use of these currently secretive legal structures.<\/p>\n

On International Anti-Corruption Day, we urge Jean-Claude Juncker to ensure the EU takes this critical step in the fight against corruption, which undermines the rights of people in Europe and around the world and threatens the credibility and integrity of the European market.<\/p>\n

Austin Agbonsuremi <\/strong>Director, political desk, AIT Parliamentary, Abuja, Nigeria<\/em>
\nFabrice Arfi <\/strong>Mediapart, France<\/em>
\nTam\u00c3\u00a1s Bodoky <\/strong>Editor-in-chief, Atlatszo.hu, Hungary<\/em>
\nSimon Bowers <\/strong>Senior financial reporter, the Guardian<\/em>
\nRichard Brooks <\/strong>Reporter, Private Eye magazine, UK<\/em>
\nStefaans Br\u00c3\u00bcmmer <\/strong>M&G Centre for Investigative Journalism (amaBhungane), South Africa<\/em>
\nSantorri Chamley <\/strong>Journalist, UK<\/em>
\nUmar Cheema <\/strong>Special investigative correspondent, the News, Islamabad and founder, Center for Investigative Reporting, Pakistan<\/em>
\nSusan Comrie <\/strong>Carte Blanche, South Africa<\/em>
\nOsama Diab <\/strong>Anti-corruption advocate and investigative journalist, Egypt<\/em>
\nAbjata Khalif <\/strong>Kenya Pastoralist Journalists Network, Kenya<\/em>
\nFrancis Kokutse <\/strong>West Africa correspondent for Indo Asian News Service, columnist for the Finder and Weekend Sun, Ghana<\/em>
\nNaomi Fowler <\/strong>Taxcast, UK<\/em>
\nParwiz Kawa <\/strong>Editor-in-chief, Hasht e Subh daily newspaper, Afghanistan<\/em>
\nDavid Masunda <\/strong>The Mirror, Zimbabwe<\/em>
\nNick Mathiason <\/strong>Illicit Finance Journalism Programme, UK<\/em>
\nEmmanuel Mayah <\/strong>Reporters 360, Nigeria<\/em>
\nJeff Mbanga <\/strong>Business editor, the Observer, Uganda<\/em>
\nCraig McKune <\/strong>M&G Centre for Investigative Journalism, South Africa<\/em>
\nJeanne van der Merwe <\/strong>Media 24, South Africa<\/em>
\nMoses Michira <\/strong>Investigative reporter for Standard Media in Nairobi, Kenya<\/em>
\nNadine Marroushi <\/strong>Freelance journalist, Egypt\/UK<\/em>
\nPatrick Mayoyo <\/strong>Investigative journalist, Kenya<\/em>
\nEric Mwamba <\/strong>Wealth Magazine, former president of the Forum for African Investigative Reporters, DRC<\/em>
\nEdegbe Odemwingie <\/strong>Senior correspondent, Leadership newspaper, Abuja, Nigeria<\/em>
\nRachel Oldroyd <\/strong>Editor, Bureau of Investigative Journalism, UK<\/em>
\nSandeep Pai <\/strong>Investigative reporter, India<\/em>
\nPhilipus Parera <\/strong>Managing editor for investigation desk, Tempo Magazine, Indonesia<\/em>
\nTata Peklun <\/strong>Radio Liberty and Anti-Corruption Action Centre, Ukraine <\/em>
\nPriti Patnaik <\/strong>Financial journalist, Switzerland\/India<\/em>
\nJuliana Ruhfus <\/strong>Senior presenter, al-Jazeera<\/em>
\nRana Sabbagh <\/strong>Executive editor, Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism<\/em>
\nM\u00c3\u00a1rton Sarkadi-Nagy <\/strong>Investigative reporter, Atlatszo.hu, Hungary<\/em>
\nNatalia Sedletskaya <\/strong>Radio Liberty Ukraine<\/em>
\nKhadija Sharife <\/strong>Coordinator, African Network of Centers for Investigative Reporting, South Africa<\/em>
\nNicholas Shaxson <\/strong>Author and journalist, Berlin<\/em>
\nDrew Sullivan <\/strong>Editor, Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, Sarajevo\/Bucharest\/Tbilisi\/Washington<\/em>
\nMinh Thi Luong <\/strong>Reporter, Vietnam<\/em>
\nBassey Udo <\/strong>Business editor, Premium Times Media, Nigeria<\/em>
\nLara Whyte <\/strong>Journalist, UK<\/em>
\nWong Joon Ian <\/strong>Journalist, UK<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This letter was in the Guardian this morning, and I warmly endorse its message: As investigative journalists, we believe in the critical role of the
 Read the full article…<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26970","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-corruption","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26970","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26970"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26970\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26970"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26970"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26970"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}