[OpenSpending] Ask for a french journalist

Thu Dec 19 10:26:46 UTC 2013

Hello Thibaut,

Do you mean subsidiaries? Are they wholly-owned? Ie, 100% subsidiaries of
the French companies?

Below some random, off-the-top-of-head ideas, not an exhaustive list by any
means:

   - It could be that the tax treatment is different for the subsidiaries
   in the different countries. You may want to talk to a fiscal specialist,
   someone from a 'socially responsible' bank or business (perhaps EcoTerra?)
   might be able to help you find such a specialist who would be willing to
   give you info, even as deep background/non-attributable info.
   - You might want to look at the various activities carried out by the
   subsidiaries (if any) and see if you can establish a pattern. Do the
   acitivities in Belgium focus on production of chemicals? Adminstrative
   activities? Transport and logistics? Are those activities dictated or do
   they conform to practical considerations (ie, a harbor where transport
   activities are concerned) or are they fiscally-related? If you were to
   contact the mother company, and or the subsidiaries and ask for details of
   the various activities of the different subsidiaries, you may get a clearer
   picture. For instance, it could be that certain activities would be taxed
   at a higher rate in France, or Germany, or that those countries might have
   eco-taxes for pollution-generating activities, while Belgium or another
   country doesn't (or perhaps does but perhaps those taxes are offset by
   other favorable tax-treatments or subsidies). By situating those activities
   in a country which does not have an eco tax, for instance, one could
   'ensure a favorable tax treatment' for certain activities.
   - It could be that one country offers stimulus-credits/subsidies to a
   company for establishing a company in a certain area, perhaps where
   unemployment is exceptionally high. I seem to remember such being the case
   in areas of Germany that were formerly in the DDR, because skills and
   infrastructure were not necessarily on a par with those of FDR in the years
   following the collapse of the Iron Curtain. You would have various options
   then, as I see it: you could contact a tax-agency from a particular country
   to see what their tax treatment us; you could also look into possible EU
   subsidies for that company's sector.
   - You might also consider to contact OLAF, the EU anti-fraud section and
   see if they have any info about the company or about the sector in which
   the company operates.

Good luck, and don't be afraid to ask if you want someone to bounce ideas
off of. Have you already created visualisations to see if you turn up any
patterns of behaviour that might be interesting?

Cheers, Katicakes

On Thu, Dec 19, 2013 at 10:20 AM, Thibaut Schepman
<tschepman at terraeco.net>wrote:

> Hi,
>
> I'm a french journalist working for Terra eco, a newspaper on sustainable
> development.
>
> I worked on the french database and I found a lot of beneficiaries (323)
> who are not based in France but in Belgium, Germany, Monaco..
>
> Do you know why ?
>
> Best regards et thank you for your help,
>
>
>
> Thibaut Schepman
> Journalist
> @ThibautSchepman
> tschepman at terraeco.net
> 06-32-52-17-17
>
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