01:42Belgium: EU committee announces launch of 'EU Leaks' whistle-blower platform
The Panama Papers Inquiry Committee announced the launching of 'EU Leaks', a special platform for whistle-blowers to conduct their work in an easy and straightforward way. The announcement was made during a press conference in Brussels, on Tuesday.
Belgian Member of European Parliament Philippe Lamberts said, "This platform, basically, as simple concept allows individuals to deposit material in a totally confidential way."
He went on to explain, "Contrary to WikiLeaks for instance, this platform is coupled with expertise. In other terms, at the receiving end, you have - and we are making no mystery about that - we have the Green Group in the European Parliament, a Greens/EFA group that has a lot of expertise to actually exploit the material that we are going to receive."
Lamberts also said that the new platform "is not about political exploitation, it's about defending the general interest." He criticised the EU Parliament for not acting to launch a similar measure, saying, "I would love that this European Parliament would create such a platform. We would support that enthusiastically. But, let's face it; it did not happen."
The Panama Papers include a large amount of data exposing widespread international corruption. The data provided in the leak centres around the activities of Mossack Fonseca over a period from the 1970s until spring 2016. There is believed to be an estimated 11.5 million documents in the Panama Papers, making it the largest leak of its kind. The information provided in the leak purportedly exposes the offshore holdings of 12 current and former world leaders as well as unveiling data on the financial activities of 128 other politicians and public officials from a number of countries.
01:42The Panama Papers Inquiry Committee announced the launching of 'EU Leaks', a special platform for whistle-blowers to conduct their work in an easy and straightforward way. The announcement was made during a press conference in Brussels, on Tuesday.
Belgian Member of European Parliament Philippe Lamberts said, "This platform, basically, as simple concept allows individuals to deposit material in a totally confidential way."
He went on to explain, "Contrary to WikiLeaks for instance, this platform is coupled with expertise. In other terms, at the receiving end, you have - and we are making no mystery about that - we have the Green Group in the European Parliament, a Greens/EFA group that has a lot of expertise to actually exploit the material that we are going to receive."
Lamberts also said that the new platform "is not about political exploitation, it's about defending the general interest." He criticised the EU Parliament for not acting to launch a similar measure, saying, "I would love that this European Parliament would create such a platform. We would support that enthusiastically. But, let's face it; it did not happen."
The Panama Papers include a large amount of data exposing widespread international corruption. The data provided in the leak centres around the activities of Mossack Fonseca over a period from the 1970s until spring 2016. There is believed to be an estimated 11.5 million documents in the Panama Papers, making it the largest leak of its kind. The information provided in the leak purportedly exposes the offshore holdings of 12 current and former world leaders as well as unveiling data on the financial activities of 128 other politicians and public officials from a number of countries.