Luxembourg's Prime-Minister Jean-Claude Juncker being granted the title of Doctor Honoris Causa of the University of Porto, May, 2013, in Portugal. Paulo Duarte / Press Association. All rights reserved.Two years after the divulging of confidential documents by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalism (ICIJ), Antoine Deltour and Raphaël Halet, the two Frenchmen who triggered off the Luxembourg Leaks, are standing trial for theft, illegal access to and possession of confidential data and breach of secrecy.
The documents in question had caused international outrage at the time of their disclosure as they shed light for the first time upon the inner workings of Luxembourg's tax ruling system. More than 300 companies — among them, multinationals such as Disney, Skype, Google, Amazon a.o. — had managed to save millions paying as little as 1% in taxes. The first wave of revelations centered on the deals facilitated between 2002 and 2012 by the consulting agency PricewaterhouseCoopers(PwC), allegedly in tandem with Luxembourgian government officials. In December 2014 followed a second wave of leaks, this time including material concerning the other Big Four auditors KPMG, Deloitte and Ernst&Young.
The scandal couldn't have been more untimely for the newly appointed President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker. The tax arrangements that came to light were set up during Juncker's lengthy tenure as Luxembourg's Prime Minister. After 18 years in office, Juncker was ousted in 2013 following a national scandal involving the State Secret Service (SREL). He was then nominated and elected as the Commission's President replacing Jose Manuel Barroso on 1 November 2014. The LuxLeaks scandal erupted during the very first week of his incumbency which led some people to regard the leak as a deliberate and planned attack directed at Juncker. Indeed, Juncker's appointment was immediately challenged by his many critics. Faced with general opprobrium and an imminent motion of no confidence which he would eventually withstand, Juncker was forced to justify himself in front of the European Parliament.
