Hans Leyendecker expresses the view that a tough discussion about banking secrecy needs to be conducted at a Europe-wide level, because it's not just about envy but about the rule of law. "Each country makes its own laws, and its own fiscal laws, too. However, countries like Liechtenstein and Switzerland that regard tax evasion as mere infringements to be punished at most with fines, but otherwise hide behind the banking secrecy regulations and refuse to aid law enforcement, are guilty of aiding and abetting tax fraud. They make their own decisions about whether to regard an offence committed in Germany as criminal or not. The 'we'll hide your money from the tax authorities' business model is a brutal policy that serves special interests. ... Switzerland's banking secrecy laws were tightened in 1934 to allow the country to avoid having to pass on information about Jewish accounts to the Nazi authorities. That was the right move back then, but today banking secrecy regulations need to be relaxed for the sake of justice." (05/03/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » Fiscal Policy, » Tax Policy, » Germany, » Switzerland, » Europe
All available articles from » Hans Leyendecker

Pascal Auber highlights the difficulties involved in modifying current rules. "Despite the emotion provoked all over Europe by the revelations on the list of Liechtenstein's fiscal tourists, a lot of money will continue to flow under the bridges of tax havens before fraud is eliminated for good. Firstly, this is because low-tax or no-tax financial zones have become an indispensable cog in our globalised economy. A very difficult international consensus would be necessary to deal with it. Then, though Germany's anger against the Alpine principality allowed the reopening Europe's fiscal hernia file, any reinforcement of current rules would require a unanimous decision on the part of the 27 members for one thing, which isn't easy, as well as the co-operation of tax-havens that are thriving on the fringes of Europe, Switzerland for starters." (05/03/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU enlargement, » Economic Policy, » Tax Policy, » Switzerland, » Europe
All available articles from » Pascal Aubert

Ariane van Caloen stresses the fact that "this scandal is showing up what is lacking in fiscal guidelines for savings capital ... . The 2005 text stipulates the exchange of information between member states on the savings revenue of non-residents. But EU countries that practice banking secrecy (Belgium, Luxembourg, Austria), as well as European tax havens beyond the EU, such a Liechtenstein, have managed not to take part ... . It seems obvious that this text negotiated ... at a time when the EU only had 15 member states, is not an efficient tool for fighting fraud. First of all, it does not cover a series of revenues such as share dividends or other products created to dodge the directive. Secondly, it does not concern physical individuals. This explains the blossoming of foundations and all sorts of structures tat can be found in Liechtenstein and elsewhere." (05/03/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU enlargement, » Economic Policy, » Tax Policy, » Luxembourg, » Switzerland, » Europe
All available articles from » Ariane van Caloen

John Christensen is director of the Tax Justice Network and David Spencer is a lawyer specialising in tax and banking law. They consider that "The Liechtenstein Affair could be a watershed in the fight against tax evasion, organised crime and corruption. ... The expanding credit crisis has helped underline the dangers of a lack of trans­parency in international finance, poor regulation and insufficient co-operation. Fighting tax haven abuses requires tackling all of these. Yet the world risks wasting this political capital on the wrong targets. ... The OECD's approach to tax transparency requires information to be exchanged with other jurisdictions only on request. In other words, you must know what you are looking for before you request it. This is shockingly inadequate. We need the automatic exchange of tax information between jurisdictions and all developing countries must be included." (05/03/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » Tax Policy, » Europe
All available articles from » John Christensen, » David Spencer

Simon Jenkins ponders the interpretation of democracy round the world. "Democracies are like two-year-olds : adorable when they belong to you, but you never see them as others do. ... Democracy is the new Christianity. It is the chosen faith of western civilisation, and carrying it abroad is the acceptable face of the Crusader spirit. In reinterpreting Tony Blair's interventionism, the foreign secretary, David Miliband, spoke recently of the west's 'mission' to promote democracy, even by economic and military warfare. ... We expect far too much of democracy, and of others who claim to espouse it. We treat it as a rigid set of rules from which no wavering is tolerable. The ballot is a sacred rite and any contamination is blasphemy. ... Democracy is an invitation to hypocrisy. Let us practise it ourselves and, if we must preach, preach by example." (05/03/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » Global
All available articles from » Simon Jenkins

Magdalena Sroda, a philospher based in Warsaw, accuses the Polish media of assisting former Polish Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczyński with his disastrous policies. "The surveillance of political opponents, the (baseless) spectacular arrests and the charges, bugging operations and smear campaigns - these are all facts. Some of these activities were carried out by the PiS itself, but it needed the media for others. It's not enough to arrest someone to destroy him; the whole thing has to be covered by the media. ... A sense of decency is an important virtue - not only for people as journalists, but also as human beings. Of course, we can hope that this country will never again fall under the rule of politicians who abuse journalism to persecute, denounce and destroy people. But faith alone in democratic mechanisms and the common sense of politicians isn't enough." (05/03/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Media policy, » Poland
All available articles from » Magdalena Środa

On Tuesday, March 4th, the Reverend Ian Paisley announced that he is to stand down in May as Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader and First Minister after 37 years as the sole leader of the DUP and one year as head of the Northern Ireland powersharing Executive. The journalist Frank Millar comments: "Northern Ireland isn't quite settled yet. Of course, Dr Paisley's announcement need not trigger alarm bells signalling the imminent collapse of the powersharing administration at Stormont [Northern Ireland Assembly]. ... If the impatience for a change of leadership was fuelled by unease about Dr Paisley's evident enjoyment of power-sharing with Sinn Féin, then a change of tone and demeanour is the least that may be expected. However, if the new DUP leader is to overcome the current perceived lack of unionist 'confidence' and agree a process for devolving policing and justice powers, it would seem certain that the issue of the IRA and the continued existence of the army council will also be firmly back on the agenda." (05/03/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Ireland
All available articles from » Frank Millar

On March 4th, a few days before the legislative elections, the Spanish Episcopal Conference named a new head, the archbishop of Madrid, Antonio Maria Rouco Varela, the prelate is one of the most hostile to the socialist government. Guido Rampoldi considers the antagonism between the Church and José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, the out-going Prime Minister. "Three years of intermittent blows have exploded in the electoral campaign. In the light of the polls, the bishops should have put their long conflict with the socialist government aside. Instead they have chosen the champion of a episcopate that is radically opposed to it. The number of Catholics in Spain is decreasing, as in the rest of Europe. ... Before a Church already terrified by this decline, Zapatero has launched a series of reforms linked to sexuality and ethics that a major part of the curia had considered its own exclusive business." (05/03/2008)

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All available articles from » Guido Rampoldi

Six months after Romania elected its MEPs, Mircea Vasilescu marvels at the new type of politician that has emerged as a result: "Without exception there is substance behind their petitions, the procedures are clear and the rules are being accepted. These members of the European Parliament are part of a 'new generation of politicians' who are actually managing to do politics - not in Bucharest, but in Strasbourg. In Bucharest, they have no place among the old political barons, and even Romanian television, worried that these 'unknown politicians' could scare off viewers, won't risk letting the MEPs have their say. As a result Romania hears little about these parliamentarians, even though they're above all the party bickering. If the political class changed, Bucharest could finally get down to the business of politics, like in Strasbourg. But this will eventually come to us from Europe." (05/03/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Domestic Policy, » Europe, » Romania
All available articles from » Mircea Vasilescu

The Dutch government is trying to persuade right-wing politician Geert Wilders not to screen his anti-Islamic film, as he had announced weeks ago. "The classical example to show that freedom of expression has limits, is that you are not allowed to shout 'Fire!' in a theatre full of people. In that light, the Dutch government is acting in a basically responsible manner in disassociating itself from extremism, and urging Wilders to think again. ... The limits of freedom of expression cannot be moved because of threats, or because other societies have not yet discovered it. But it is more than ever vital now that both governments and the rest of us insist on the right to put our foot down in relation to those who seek confrontation and conflict and leave the consequences to society. Here, the Christian Democratic Prime Minister in Holland is doing the right thing." (05/03/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » Denmark, » Netherlands
All available articles from » Tøger Seidenfaden

Yesterday, a BBC documentary about the miserable living conditions at a children's home in the Bulgarian village of Mogilino was screened in the European Parliament. The films was broadcast on British television late last year and led to initiatives aimed at improving the situation of the children. "Our representatives in the European Parliament categorically opposed the screening of the film on the grounds that it tarnished Bulgaria's image. Bulgaria's Labour and Social Policy Minister, Emilia Maslarova, even refused to attend the screening," the newspaper reports. "Yet it's high time Bulgarian ministers, including the social minister, stop burying their heads in the sand. ... At the beginning of the 21st century they can no longer hide the truth about these sick children from Europe. And the sooner Europe hears about the tragic situation of the poor in Bulgaria, the better. The uproar about the Mogilino case has proved that when society is informed of a problem it can seek it own solutions, and doesn't necessarily require government support." (05/03/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Bulgaria

Following the announcement on February 29th, that European aerospace group EADS has won part of a $35 billion deal to supply 179 aerial tankers to the Pentagon, the daily notes that "The president of Airbus is not letting the success go to his head. He is acknowledging the positive impact on French activity, but also exposing his objective to increase EADS production in the dollar zone from 23 to 40% by 2020, confirming his Power 8 plan. In Washington, Boeing partisans are counting on a Democratic victory in order to obtain protectionist revenge. In Paris however, EADS would benefit more from a McCain victory. Everybody is noting that Nicolas Sarkozy's break away from traditional French anti-Americanism was a major factor in this victory, which weighs positively upon the balance of trade, though not yet upon the president's popularity in the polls." (05/03/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » Security Policy / Crises / War, » Corporations, » France, » U.S.

On Monday, a national committee against product piracy was officially founded in Hungary. Péter N. Nagy endorses the prosecution of counterfeiters and fakes in principle, but wonders whether the pros might not outweigh the cons in certain sectors: "Am I supposed to be sorry that music exchange platforms and CD pirates are making Hollywood poorer? Should I keep my fingers crossed for the free downloading of music to be stemmed? Naturally, production companies and musicians are being cheated out of their money, but don't the benefits that this free access to music history provides for countless people cancel the damages? In this way music and film gain in value, whereby the resulting gains don't necessarily take the form of money and don't turn up in the usual places, but are certainly somewhere." (05/03/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » Audiovisual Media, » Online media, » Hungary
All available articles from » Péter N. Nagy

The European Commission asked a group of intellectuals to think about how to preserve the languages of Europe. Their recently published report recommends the introduction of a third language, as well as the mother tongue and English, in school curriculum. For the Spanish daily, "Europe is inevitably multilingual. Working languages have been imposed, headed by English, but the official languages of each State must remain valid in the written law and in debates, because democracy demands that everybody be able to express themselves in their own language. The EU's linguistic diversity is not an obstacle, but a precious asset. Its preservation necessitates a major effort on the part of the public authorities, of students and of teachers. " (04/03/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » Cultural Policy, » Europe

Italian writer Umberto Eco explains in an interview by Martin Scholz how he continually polemicises against the Internet while at the same time remaining an enthusiastic user: "I have always welcomed new technologies, but one has to learn to use them each time and equip oneself to deal with them. For instance, I always found it silly to pitch books against computers. ... I like technological gadgets, and have great fun buying and trying out new IT products. I recently bought myself an external hard disk with 250 gigabytes storage capacity. It's unbelievable. I immediately stored the entire contents of Italy's national library on it - some of the literary world's great works. When I travel, I just pack it into my suitcase and unpack it in my hotel room in Hong Kong. This way I can always have a complete edition of Shakespeare's works, the bible or the Koran in front of me." (05/03/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » Public Culture, » Italy
All available articles from » Umberto Eco, » Martin Scholz

The generally good relations between Czechs and Slovaks cooled dramatically last year when Slovakia applied to the EU for trademark protection for its 'spekácky' sausage. This speciality has also been produced from time immemorial by Czech manufacturers. A trademark for the Slovak sausage would mean that the Czechs would have to produce their sausage according to the Slovak recipe. The prospect triggered outraged protest in the Czech Republic. The Czech daily reports that the agricultural ministers of the two states have now reached an agreement at a trade fair in Brno. "Czechs and Slovaks are now working together again on the 'spekácky' project. Both countries will jointly apply to the EU for the registration of this regional speciality. ... If the EU grants protection, there will be a 'sausage declaration' that stipulates the recipes to be used, but allows each country to use its own." (05/03/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Agriculture, » Czech Republic, » Slovakia, » Europe