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The announcement by Spanish Treasury Minister Cristóbal Montoro on December 13, that he intends to publish a list of tax evaders was not well received in Brussels, notes Spanish financial daily El Economista. According to a high-level EU civil servant interviewed by the paper, such a move would be "illegal and contrary to community law and to the European Directive on the protection of personal data”.
Tax evasion in Spain represents €90m per year, with 72 per cent due to evasion by large firms and the wealthiest families, calculates the Union of Public Finance Inspectors from the Spanish Treasury Ministry. Nonetheless, El Economista is critical of the minister's initiative –
Minister Montoro is knowingly acting in response a trend in public opinion that favours the idea that the rich should also suffer. But he cannot oppose the law or the rule of law. And in Brussels, as in Spain, the experts and the lawyers consulted agree that this hypothetical list of tax evaders is clearly illegal. On the other hand, in these times of exceptional economic difficulties and when sacrifices are required of citizens, it is a moral requirement to demand that the government battle efficiently against tax evasion.
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