Tarnished reputation

Jean-Claude Juncker missed an opportunity. As the European Parliament debated the censure motion against his European Commission in Strasbourg on Monday, he could have used the opportunity to explain, once again, why as prime minister of Luxembourg just a few years ago he was promoting something which he has now pledged to fight against as president of the EU Commission: the creative taxation rules for corporations in Luxembourg and many other EU member states.

Juncker is now saying that he has always been in favor of increased tax harmonization and tax equity. That's hardly credible, because the fact is that tax arrangements and the utmost cooperation from tax authorities have always belonged to Luxembourg's business model - and still do today.

Rightly, Juncker pointed out that Luxembourg was not alone with its policy: 21 other EU members have used similar tax models, with the Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland, Britain and Malta being particularly creative and successful. And all this was completely legal.

The EU Commission is currently investigating whether these tax savings infringed upon European competition law. One thing is certain: the loopholes weren't against current European tax law, because such a law does not exist. When it comes to tax issues, national governments alone are responsible. If they wanted to change that, then it could be done today. A censure motion against the European Commission, put forth by the right-wing populist and eurosceptics in the EU Parliament last week, is actually beside the point.

The European Commission is not responsible for the tax structure in Luxembourg or any other country. Nevertheless, the eurosceptics have - of course - seized the opportunity to stir up animosity toward Juncker, the Commission and Europe in general, using the always popular subject of unjust taxation.

It's here that Juncker dropped the ball when confronting the eurosceptics in parliament. He showed that he was personally offended, did not explain his behavior during his time as Luxembourg's prime minister, and now, as the new EU Commission president, will grab the tax problem by the horns.

He'll survive using this tactic, because the censure motion has no chance of being passed. The right-wing populists and eurosceptics only have, at most, 100 seats in the European Parliament. But they need a two-thirds majority. This majority has never been reached in the past eight censure motions against the Commission in the last 35 years. None of the major factions in parliament want to get into bed with the populists, and so Juncker will be able to sleep soundly.

This, perhaps, explained his lackluster defense in the European Parliament on Monday. But even if the censure motion fails and it turns out that Luxembourg, under Juncker, did nothing to breach EU competition law, the tax scandal will still have a lasting effect. The reputation of the Juncker Commission has already been tarnished, not because their work has been unsatisfactory but simply because their boss did not do enough to dispel all the doubts.

Juncker has already managed to set a record: Never before has a European Commission had to face a vote of no confidence just three weeks after taking office. It's a bad start for such a committed European - Juncker really should have been capable of better.