MEP for South East England and Chair of the European Parliament's Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee
Sharon is regularly named by the media and industry as one of the most influential Members of the European Parliament. Her expertise and hard work have received many plaudits.
She is the first Briton and first Liberal to ever chair the Parliament's powerful Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee, where she plays a leading role in responding to the Eurozone financial crisis.
Excessive surcharges on card payments and pre-ticked boxes on websites are to be banned following the coming into force of new EU consumer rights legislation today. Under the new rules, which must be fully implemented by 13th June 2014, retailers across the EU will also have to give clearer price information and provide shoppers with longer cooling-off periods to cancel orders and return goods.
Last night the European Parliament's Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee voted for far-reaching proposals to make large EU firms more transparent in how they pay tax around the globe.
Sharon Bowles MEP, who chairs the Committee, drafted the report on non-financial disclosure and has been fighting to extend corporate transparency for all large European companies - known as country-by-country reporting - since 2009.
Liberal Democrat MEP Sharon Bowles today warned of dramatic job losses in the financial sector if the UK were to leave the EU, afterco-CEO of Goldman Sachs Michael Sherwoodsaid his company would be likely to 'drastically reduce' its activities in London in case of an EU exit.
Speaking to German newspaper Frankfurte Allgemeine Zeitung, Mr Sherwood warned:
The Government will today unveil its National Infrastructure Plan (NIP), which includes an estimated £375 billion of investment in transport, energy, communications, and water projects, as well as the selling off of its 40% stake in Eurostar.
In concert with the Government's announcement the insurance industry is today unveiling plans for £25bn of investment in UK infrastructure projects.
The Chair of the European Parliament's Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee, Sharon Bowles MEP, has today pledged to support EU plans to close a loophole which has allowed large corporations to avoid paying their fair share of tax.
Amendments to the EU's corporate tax legislation, proposed by Taxation Commissioner Algirdas Semeta, will introduce an anti-abuse clause which will prevent companies including Google, Amazon, Starbucks and Apple from stockpiling their profits in countries with lower tax rates.
MEPs meeting in Strasbourg have voted overwhelmingly in favour of never going back to the French city ever again.
While Brussels is the main place of work for Euro-MPs, an international treaty requires the European Parliament to meet in Strasbourg for twelve sessions a year.
A fleet of lorries packed with paperwork and office equipment makes the journey every month as part of a move said to cost EU taxpayers more than €200 million each year.
Lib Dem MEP Sharon Bowles has today voted in favour of forcing large companies to have more women directors on their boards.
A proposed new EU law, backed by the European Parliament, would require public companies employing more than 250 people to have at least 40% of their non-executive directors from each gender.
Following today's vote on an EU proposal for the development of key information documents for investment products, Sharon Bowles MEP, Chair of the European Parliament's Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee, said:
"Financial products and services are often complex and this can result in confusion and mis-selling to the consumer. The European Parliament has today voted to change all that.
MEP for South East England and Chair of the European Parliament's Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee
