The daily points out that "Britain has been dragged into the row [over Liechenstein] after it emerged that the Inland Revenue also paid the whistle-blower £100,000 for a list of about 100 Britons allegedly evading tax. Other countries, especially in Scandinavia, are interested in the list. ... The first disturbing question is whether it is ethical to use intelligence services to spy on a friendly neighbour and to pay for information from a man who stole it from his employers. The payments seem, at the very least, distasteful. ... The role and legitimacy of tax havens needs greater clarity. How should those countries dependent on financial services police their operations to ensure legitimacy? What is clear is that bullying Europe's smallest states is counter-productive. It would be better to persuade them that interdependence is a two-way street, and that change is the best guarantee of good relations with their larger neighbours." (26/02/2008)

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"In the line of fire of fiscal administration there are several Spanish defrauders who placed large quantities of money in Liechtenstein", explains the daily. "Inquiries have been made possible by the information communicated by Germany. ... [The administration] should now decide whether or not to take legal action. Spanish legislation prevents action against potential defrauders if proof is obtained by irregular means. And paying an informer [Germany apparently paid 5 million euros] could be an illegal act. The administration is however keeping its cards close to its chest. It has not divulged the number or names of the Spaniards concerned, or the sums of money they have placed. It should none the less act with the same speed and transparency as Germany, in order to make those who don't respect the law pay the right price." (27/02/2008)

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Danish Tax Minister Kristian Jensen is hesitating to ask Germany to share information that the German Federal Intelligence Service bought from Liechtenstein, arguing that the files were stolen. Such data could eventually help in filing charges against Danish tax evaders. Bent Winther surmises that Jensen would be less hesitant if the issue were welfare funds or childcare assistance obtained under false pretences. "Instead of shying away from doing something about these wealthy individuals and the information available on them, the Danish government should move ahead, with Germany, against the tax evading countries of Switzerland, Monaco, the Isle of Man, Luxembourg and Liechtenstein. For decades the EU tried in vain to put pressure on these countries to give up their anti-social banking secrecy, which they use to attract enormous sums of illegal, untaxed capital." (27/02/2008)

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Serge Gumy explains that Switzerland is indirectly targeted by Germany's attacks against Liechtenstein. "Convinced that the storm is bound to break-out over our heads at one time or another, the future leader of the Swiss Socialist Party, Christian Levrat, considers that our country can only survive EU pressure if it resolves to finally pursue the tax evasion that its banks largely thrive on. This would basically boil down to breaking banking secrecy. With his propositions, Christian Levrat is attacking the Swiss safe from the inside, he is even drilling a hole that Brussels might leap through. ... Breaches of the legendary banking secrecy are multiplying, in the name of the struggle against terrorism, for example. The end of banking secrecy is thus only a question of time. Switzerland would therefore be well-advised to succumb to the way the wind is blowing, otherwise it might break." (27/02/2008)

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Belgian researcher Valérie Rosoux, a political scientist and expert on international relations, ponders the purpose of official apologies in the process of reconciliation between states, or within a nation. "For some philosophers, such as Hannah Arendt and Paul Ricoeur, forgiveness is not necessarily private and individual, it can also take on political proportions. From this point of view, forgiveness is the only way to reopen memory without triggering resentment or the desire for revenge. Its objective is neither to add salt to a wound that cannot be healed, nor to rub out memories. ... Far from wiping out the past, forgiveness acts upon it. It is an attempt to modify it by giving it another meaning. ... Making official apologies cannot 'repair' damage suffered by individuals who have been affected in their flesh, or among their near and dear, but it can help relieve the pain of their wounds and in so doing give a future to memory." (26/02/2008)

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Does it make sense to drive with biofuels? Do cell phones endanger the health of our children? Does nanotechnology offer more benefits than risks? Economist Gunther Tichy argues on behalf of a new form of technology assessment that gives equal consideration to scientific and social criterion. "The public discussion emerges from a concept of social risk, determined by lifestyles, ideologies and recent experience with new technology, but also includes expectations of personal benefits and risks. Experts in natural sciences and technology use the technically oriented risk terminology of 'probability of occurrence multiplied by the degree of damage.' But that is not a concept on which democratic institutions can base their decisions." (27/02/2008)

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Belgium's Flemish and Walloon citizens have agreed on a phased reform of the country's constitutional structure. Michael Stabenow sees this development as a gift from Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt, who plans to leave office this coming Easter. "Still, the arrangement bears the typical marks of a 'compromis à la belge', the balancing of interests that has influenced domestic policy up to now and only allows slow progress. ... It is one thing for Flemish politicians to deplore the self-interested mentality of the Walloon south when it comes to public welfare benefits. But it's another thing entirely if Flanders benefits from the failure of the Walloon economy, which is tied to that of the northern area, to take off. This insight, too, is part of the political legacy of Guy Verhofstadt, who is now transferring to European politics." (27/02/2008)

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The editorialist Luigi La Spina considers the debate that took place on February 25th between Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero and the leader of the opposition, Mariano Rajoy, ahead of the legislative elections on March 9th. "The two candidates debated the economy, constitutional reforms, immigration and policy towards ETA. The only subject that wasn't broached was, paradoxically, the one that is enflaming our electoral campaign [Legislative elections are scheduled in Italy for April 15th]: abortion and ethics. And yet the Spanish Church takes part and makes itself heard in the national political debate. There is a striking difference between these two countries which are considered similar. ... Why are ethical questions so over-exposed in Italy ? Perhaps it is due to the weakness of two coalitions and the power of Catholic parties in the centre. ... We are left with an impression that political debate is regressing, for it is far easier to strike a position against abortion than it is to propose a credible solution to put our economy back on its feet." (27/02/2008)

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Jonathan Scheele, former head of the EU Commission delegation in Bucharest, steered the accession talks with Romania until the end of 2006. One year after Romania's entry into the EU, he observes that "if Romania has no clear vision of what it wants, it will not be able to exert any influence. To merely defend one's own national interests is reaction, not action. Unfortunately, up to now there has been no real strategy. Of course, the problem of corruption has to take first priority. Sadly, reforms are not moving along as quickly as we would have liked. But if the corruption problem should ever be solved, there is a need for a clear concept about the country's future. And as long as no such concept exists, Romania will not achieve the position it deserves within the EU." (27/02/2008)

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The election in Cyprus of Demetris Christofias, communist leader of the AKEL party, has received extensive media coverage. The daily explains the island's specific brand of Communism. "Cyprus' new president may still espouse the communist ideology in theory, but he is pragmatic enough to know that he cannot tamper with the market economy. ... Christofias and AKEL, despite their public rhetoric, have always enjoyed good relations with the members of big business, which has regularly contributed funds to party coffers. The truth is that Cyprus' communists have always been pragmatists rather than ideologues, which is why they are still a major political force so many years after the demise of Eastern Bloc. And this was why the majority of Cypriot voters had no qualms about voting for Christofias on Sunday. They knew that in reality he is a lapsed communist." (26/02/2008)

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On 22 February, the ruling socialists, who also have the majority in the Bulgarian parliament, voted against the rehabilitation of victims of the communist regime. The vote related specifically to victims of the communist putsch led by Kimon Georgiew on 9 -12 September 1944. Bojko Pentschew writes: "Left-wing legislators are invoking 'revolutionary justice,' according to which there are special times when laws don't apply. In the history of the left movements, communists have recognized this right but the socialists haven't. Now, the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) does not want to admit that there was terrorism in the anti-fascist movement. This reveals a double standard. On one hand, they feel connected to the youth and to Europeans. On the other hand, they are bound to the executioners of yesterday." (27/02/2008)

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Evelyn Roll describes 30-year-old writer Saša Stanišić, who came to Germany from Bosnia at the age of 14 and is the latest recipient of the Chamisso literary prize for writers of non-German background. "When Stanišić takes the stage to read to young audiences, whether in his soccer literature performance at the International Literature Festival in Munich or in Wiesbaden, he is treated like a pop-star. Pale, plump girls dressed in black, with white, moon-shaped faces and black ponytails wait for him at the stage door, their hands buried in their pockets, their toes pointed inward. ... Literary scholars see Stanišić as proof for their thesis that immigrant literature is rushing to fill the gap left by German authors who can't tell a story. This, Stanišić can handle. But if someone calls him an 'example of integration success,' he might flip out." (27/02/2008)

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Andrzej Kraśnicki reports that motorists have been harassed on both sides of the German-Polish border in recent days. It started with the German police imposing fines against Poles for below-standard first aid boxes. The Polish police then punished German drivers for not having fire extinguishers, which are required in Poland. Says Kraśnicki, "Today, if residents of Świnoujście want to visit Germany, they take along a well-equipped German first-aid kit. These are selling like hot cakes in the markets on the border, with a price tag of 6 euros. On the other side, German Federal Police inspect the contents with embarrassing precision. Before he knows it, the Polish driver is drowning in fines of 10 to 50 euros, for failing to have thermo foil, for having bandage scissors of the wrong size, or for a missing first-aid box, which is not required in Poland." (26/02/2008)

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The weekly questions the European Commission's use of Europe-wide surveys. "Since their birth in 1973, Eurobarometers have pursued multiple goals. The Frenchman who invented them called the polls a means of promoting integration, by showing Europeans in different nations where they agreed and disagreed. But officials cannot reasonably pretend that their polls equate to a democratic mandate. For one thing, the commission is notorious for only asking questions to which it wants answers ... . Polls on sensitive subjects such as racism or religion are routinely neutered, to avoid questions that might reveal differing degrees of tolerance in EU nations. ... The European Commission has always been a strange hybrid: a civil service run by politicians, with a monopoly on proposing new EU laws and rules. In power-struggles with national governments, claiming voter support must be tempting." (21/02/2008)

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