Top officials from the EU recently met with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to speed economic and political reforms. European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker arrived in Kiev from Luxembourg and joined Mr Poroshenko and European Council President Donald Tusk to talk at the presidential offices. In addition to their talks, Kiev will be the location for…
Category Archives: Europe
Help European IPOs Says the IPO Task Force
Financial trade groups have started to lobby the European Commission to implement changes that helped to bring about the US biotech IPO boom. What the European IPO Task Force specifically wants is for politicians to slash the regulatory and administrative cost that is involved in going public by as much as 50%. This would help…
E-Book Tax Raises Price and Hackles
The EU has recently ruled that e-books sold in Europe constitute an electronically supplied service and are subject to higher taxes (VAT) than physical books. This could raise the price of e-books in some countries. This change will primarily impact France and Luxembourg. Ironically, these are the two countries that created the need for the…
EU Accusing Luxembourg & Amazon
The EU has accused both Luxembourg and Amazon of finding a band-aid fix to avoid tax. Competition Commissioner Joaquin Alumina sent a 23 page letter to the Luxembourg foreign ministry. It is they said, “The commission’s preliminary view is that the tax ruling of 5 November 2003 by Luxembourg in favour of Amazon constitutes state…
The Consequences if Greece Leaves
As Greece contemplates the idea of leaving the EU, it’s certainly worthwhile to read analyses about the consequences that these actions would have. One article points out that, should it come to Greece leaving the EU, “A Greek default on its around 240 billion euros in rescue loans would send another shock wave to the…
EU Food Laws Changing…for the Better?
The EU law on food information for consumers (FIC) is changing which means that manufacturers can no longer hide ingredients under generic titles. And palm oil is one of those wildly used ingredients that will now come to light. Until now, palm oil has been listed as vegetable oil but many products are starting to…
EU Offering Aid to Bulgaria
The European Commission has proposed a grant to give Bulgaria EUR 10 million in aid for flood damage. The EU’s Economic and Financial Affairs Council is expected to approve of this proposal. The vote on the EUR 10 million aid package for Varna and Dobrich districts will take place on Friday, according to the Bulgarian…
China and the EU Come to Agreement
The EU has recently decided to drop its threat to levy punitive tariffs on Chinese telecoms exports. Beijing agreed to talk about limiting its exports credits to Chinese firms in the telcoms sector. showing the EU that it will heed the international binding rules on corporate subsidies. As Karel De Gucht, the EU Trade Commissioner,…
UK Threatens Action Against the Financial Transaction Tax
The UK is turning its anger towards the EU as the EU is implementing a financial transaction tax. Chancellor George Osborne has threatened new legal action after his pre-emptive challenge was rejected last week. As Osborne said at a meeting of EU finance ministers on Tuesday, “It’s not a tax on bankers, it’s a tax…
Portugal Looks To Meet Its Budget-Deficit Targets
The Portuguese government will continue cutting spending to try to meet budget-deficit targets. This includes cutting spending in ministries and lowering the number of public workers. As explained in the Wall Street Journal, “Portugal will exit a three-year, €78 billion ($108 billion) bailout program next month, but lenders—the International Monetary Fund and the European Union—want…
