UPDATED/Panama Papers inquiry begins today in the European Parliament

The Panama Papers inquiry kicks off today in the European Parliament. “We want to know who owns letter box companies,” Burkhard Balz, the MEP (European People’s Party) said. Balz led the negotiations on the mandate for the Panama Papers Inquiry Committee.

Meanwhile, in a separate hearing this morning – this time of the European Parliament Legal Affairs Committee and not the Panama Papers Inquiry Committee, questions were put to the Climate and Energy Commissioner, Spain’s Miguel Arias Cañete. The session was not open to the public or the media. MEPs asked him about his wife’s links to the Panama Papers revelations. All parliamentary groups except the EPP want Cañete to step down.

UPDATE: Following this morning’s sessions with Cañete, the Socialist grouping in the European Parliament released this press statement:

Miguel Arias Canete