Amsterdam-based non-profit research company SOMO has released a report that claims that the Netherlands is home to companies involved in human rights violations.
The report investigated large multinational companies in the resource industry that have a subsidiary in the Netherlands.
It claims that of the eight companies it investigated, all were involved in human rights violations abroad, including environmental pollution in populated areas, militia violence, displacement and murder.
It also claims that the Dutch government so far has been unsuccessful in fully regulating these companies.
The Dutch government’s recently released policy statement on corporate social responsibility (CSR), states that CSR is no longer non-committal, while still emphasizing its voluntary nature and the importance of corporate self-regulation. Yet, according to the report, this is an insufficient response as there are no "effective measures" against violations.
The companies investigated are not strictly Dutch companies, but are what the report calls “mailbox” companies with only a small operation in the Netherlands that allows them to pay tax here, rather than in the source countries where the tax rates would be higher.
The report goes further, stating that the Netherlands play a crucial role in global tax avoidance. The company calculated that 28 developing countries lose at least 771 million euros annually in tax income on interest and dividend payments only as a result of Dutch tax treaties.
For a copy of the report and an executive summary click here.
EU-Digest
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