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Spudich, Helmut
2 articles of this author have been cited in the European Press Review so far.
Liechtenstein criticises German tax investigations
Helmut Spudich criticizes the procedures of German tax investigators. "Of course we have to fight hard against the systematic tax evasion - totalling millions of euros - of a highly paid clique (who prefer the term 'key personnel'). But to fight at any price? Even to the extent of procuring data whose release is illegal in other countries? Germans would probably be highly indignant if the CIA were to requisition Siemens data in Germany for the purposes of the US exchange supervisory authority. Remember, Europeans were certainly quite upset when the US secret service pored over SWIFT transactions via the European bank transfer centre, looking for signs of terrorist funding. But there seems to be a certain satisfaction in the fact that the German Federal Intelligence Service has 'cracked a bank' in Liechtenstein (to quote an investigator)."
» full article (external link, German)
More from the press review on the subject » EU enlargement, » Domestic Policy, » Tax Policy, » Germany, » Western Europe
Galileo lacks military structure
The halt in the development of Galileo, Europe's satellite navigation system, could mean the end of the project, Helmut Spudich fears. He explains: "The EU - geopolitically speaking - is no orb. It's merely a little slice of land with relatively narrow borders. If you don't have to dispatch aircraft carrier strike troops to distant waters, you can manage perfectly well without satellite navigation. With a pinch of polemics, you could sum up the EU dilemma as follows: It is a civil society, and when it comes to some major governmental undertakings it doesn't match the USA, with its large, united military structure. After all, GPS is (just like the basic structure of the Internet, by the way) a military invention, financed by US taxpayers, and only released for civilian use in 1993... The EU doesn't have easy access to billions in tax funds in the form of huge defence coffers."
» full article (external link, German)
More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Science / Research, » Europe
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