EU wants Swiss money

EU tax commissioner Algirdas Šemeta has announced plans to increase pressure on Switzerland to make progress on an anti-fraud agreement aimed at facilitating the identification of illicit earnings on Swiss bank accounts. The pressure on Switzerland has grown mainly because the EU states need money, the conservative Sunday paper Welt am Sonntag complains: "Switzerland is being cajoled because it has a more liberal legal system and better tax laws that attract people and capital. What critics overlook is that it's not Switzerland's fault if the Germans or French want to put their money in a secure place because they no longer trust their own tax authorities and/or currency. The Swiss banks are not an extension of foreign tax authorities. … Swiss state and private assets have always been an object of desire for European powers. Napoleon only withdrew his troops once they had safely stacked the Bern treasury onto their wagons. There's nothing new under the sun."

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