Not much was accomplished at the G8 summit, particularly regarding Syria, the conservative newspaper The Daily Telegraph laments: "Perhaps this is because those attending knew in advance that Russian intransigence - and unease among their own voters - would prevent any drastic action over Syria. Or because a summit that includes the prickly Vladimir Putin (as well as two representatives from the European Union  [Commission President José Manuel Barroso und Council President Herman Van Rompuy]) but excludes the world's rising power, China, seems an increasingly peculiar cockpit for global governance. The temptation, therefore, is to feel that the G8 has become primarily a chance for world leaders to massage each others' egos." (18/06/2013)

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The proposals of the G8 in the fight against tax avoidance are well-considered, the left-liberal daily The Irish Times writes, and hopes for binding rules: "The G8 statement on taxation and transparency, however, does break some new ground in attempting to redress the balance of power between tax-avoiding multinationals and both national tax authorities and developing world governments. You can't tax transactions or produce that you are unaware of, and the G8 has set out some commonsense and uneceptionable rules that could help. But, without the binding force of treaties or international law, without the sort of institutional enforcement capacity of an EU-like body, such principles are at best worthy but aspirational." (19/06/2013)

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Cobertura de debates » Europe fights tax evasion

The G8's declarations of intent on the joint fight against tax avoidance are still too hesitant, the regional daily La République des Pyrenées writes: "Although a unanimous accord has been reached for exchanging tax data between administrations, it does not go as far as the exchange of bank data, which is however necessary for those seeking to uncover circuits of dirty or 'grey' money. We're still a long way from global fiscal regulation. This delay is infuriating, above all when you consider what colossal sums are eluding national tax administrations in the meantime. But at least we now have a promise that the screws will be turned. That will raise the pressure on the tax optimisers who are ever in search of better loopholes." (19/06/2013)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Relaciones internacionales, » Política financiera, » Empresa, » Economía, » Global
Todos los textos disponible de » Jean-Michel Helvig
Cobertura de debates » Europe fights tax evasion

The transatlantic free-trade zone has been given the green light by the G8, the liberal business daily Il Sole 24 Ore writes jubilantly after the end of the summit: "The turning point at Enniskillen promises a new beginning. It paves the way for new global governance that has the potential to be more organic and structured and puts the West back in the centre of events. No one could have dreamed that the initiative would come from Obama, whose first term in office was characterised by a lack of interest in Europe. Instead he chose to try his luck with a strategic flirt with China. But this proved to be a rash effort that failed owing to too many conflicting interests and ultimately the competition with Beijing. With this new approach Europe will be transformed from Cinderella into the princess again, and led to the altar of a marriage that is financially advantageous for both partners." (19/06/2013)

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If the G8 can set any developments in motion, it's in the area of tax avoidance, the liberal daily La Stampa contends: "At least in the battle against tax avoidance by large companies and above all financial companies, the summit could pave the way for concrete and important steps, aside from the official and traditionally laconic final declaration. Particularly since in the industrialised nations a change of mood is tangible, a rebellion against the multinationals that use 'creative tax systems' or in other words do a bunk. … An international system of rules could help stop them provided the eight leaders who have convened at the lake in Northern Ireland are sufficiently wary of new monsters. This would be an advantage for everyone." (18/06/2013)

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Cobertura de debates » Europe fights tax evasion

The concessions that Prime Minister David Cameron has secured from the British tax havens ahead of the G8 summit are not enough as far as the liberal daily Público is concerned: "To show that this time that he's got more than just good intentions, the British prime minister announced an agreement with the ten British overseas territories and Crown dependencies which are internationally considered to be tax havens. … This is certainly an important step but it is by no means enough to tackle the root of the problem. Because tax evasion is a practice that embezzles astronomic sums from public coffers, disregards all principles of fairness and undermines the authority of the state. … These territories that stimulate corruption and decimate the people's wealth must urgently be subjected to far tougher controls." (17/06/2013)

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Cobertura de debates » Europe fights tax evasion

An agreement on concrete measures against global tax avoidance is called for at the summit, the liberal business paper The Financial Times writes: "The best G8 outcome would be an international agreement on how to link tax bases to real economic activity and limit the creation of letterbox subsidiaries whose sole purpose is to locate the most profitable parts of businesses in low-tax jurisdictions - or in no jurisdiction at all..... The G8 should also advance the cause of the automatic exchange of tax information between governments, an essential tool for tax authorities to verify that democratically chosen tax structures are working." (17/06/2013)

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Cobertura de debates » Europe fights tax evasion

A concerted action against global tax avoidance could put Ireland in a tight spot, the liberal daily Irish Examiner warns: "The summit is also expected to trigger a process of global tax reform which could ultimately cost this country many jobs by diminishing our attractiveness as an industrial location. The problem is a growing perception of Ireland as a tax haven. With the focus on tax, trade and transparency, the spotlight will inevitably turn on Ireland, indirectly if not directly.... Despite strenuous denials by the Irish Government, and regardless of whether or not it is wrong to describe Ireland as a convenient tax-avoidance channel, that's the perception in America, Britain and elsewhere in Europe." (18/06/2013)

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Cobertura de debates » Europe fights tax evasion

All Erdoğan has achieved with the violent repression of the protests is a hardening of the fronts, the state-run liberal daily Wiener Zeitung writes: "Once again Erdoğan resorted to violence, and in so doing has shot himself in the foot. In a surprise move, the the police launched an attack on Saturday evening with tear gas and water cannons that apparently contained a corrosive substance. Taksim Square was turned into a battlefield. ... When the governor of Istanbul refers to the deployment as a clearing and not as an attack, it's as if he were denying reality. All those who were there will tell you that there were far more than the officially-reported 29 wounded. One thing is certain: a solution has moved far away after yesterday's events. The demonstrators don't want to give up, and are in the process of forging new protest strategies." (16/06/2013)

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Todos los textos disponible de » Arian Faal
Cobertura de debates » Uprising against Erdoğan

This brutal counterattack by a self-satisfied ruler was to be expected, the left-liberal daily Delo comments following the violent clearing of Gezi Park: "There were protests in 68 Turkish cities at the same time. Now that the wall of fear has fallen, Taksim Square and Gezi Park have become the epicentre of global love of freedom and have turned their surroundings into the biggest occupied public space in modern history. This is reminiscent of Tahrir Square in Cairo in its finest hour. But it was always clear that driven by the madness of the dictator syndrome, the Turkish head of government Tayyip Erdoğan would strike back with the help of his brutal police. It was obvious that his egocentric and self-satisfied empire would launch a counterattack. It was just a matter of time." (17/06/2013)

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Todos los textos disponible de » Bostjan Videmsek
Cobertura de debates » Uprising against Erdoğan

Europe must support the protesting Turks but should not forget that they don't represent the majority of the country, historian Timothy Garton Ash points out in the left-liberal daily El País: "[At the beginning of the month], I asked an astute Turkish political observer, fresh from Istanbul, what European leaders should say in response to Taksim. His answer was: Nothing. Leave it to the Turks. I agreed then, but I cannot now. Faced with such arrogant bullying, European leaders must speak out. ... Yet we do have to strike a balance. We need to show complete solidarity with those who are standing up for values we share. ... But we have to acknowledge that [the critics of the government] did not win the last election and are unlikely to win the next one." (17/06/2013)

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Todos los textos disponible de » Timothy Garton Ash
Cobertura de debates » Uprising against Erdoğan

The unrest in Turkey has been stirred up by a foreign plot aimed at weakening the country, the pro-government daily Yeni Şafak writes, calling for new elections: "Turkey is on the verge of becoming ungovernable. Where developments will lead us in this chaos is hard to say, but these tensions and confrontations cannot persist until the elections [in 2015]. For that reason new elections must be called before the arrow has left the bow. And the promise must be made that directly afterwards structural changes - such as a new constitution - will be introduced. It is particularly important for the prime minister to realise that without early elections it may soon be too late to prevent a complete catastrophe." (17/06/2013)

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Todos los textos disponible de » Yusuf Kaplan
Cobertura de debates » Uprising against Erdoğan

The potential French veto against the planned free trade agreement between the EU and the US is understandable, the left-liberal daily Süddeutsche Zeitung writes: "France defines itself as a grand cultural nation, whereby it understands culture not just as the fine arts, but also as savoir vivre, a heightened sense of beauty and 'esprit'. Others prefer to own nuclear weapons, to be the world export champion or to usher in the Pacific century: the French console themselves with their culture and don't want it to be treated just like any other commodity, such as drilling machines or lean hogs. ... At the same time, the clash of cultures is the expression of a basic discord. ... With its Latin roots, France has a different, more sceptical attitude to money than Britain or Germany. The triumphal march of capitalism and the marketing of almost every cultural expression meets with a deep sense of unease in France. ... That explains why the promise of a transatlantic free trade agreement is less attractive in France than elsewhere." (13/06/2013)

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Todos los textos disponible de » Stefan Ulrich

France's demand for exceptions to be made for audiovisual cultural goods in the negotiations on a free trade agreement between the EU and the United States will be detrimental to the country's culture and won't even help Europe's economy, the liberal business paper Il Sole 24 Ore points out: "On the contrary, a country's roots are strengthened when its culture crosses borders and spreads across the world. Moreover, from an economic perspective one exemption in the trade agreement would automatically lead to the next. Following the logic of the French arguments one could ask why the US doesn't make exceptions with which to protect Californian grape types from imports of Beaujolais and Barolo. This principle applies even more to Italy, whose most profitable export is its culture. The Mole Antonelliana [famous landmark in Turin] can't compare with the Empire State Building. But what would the Italian National Museum of Cinema it houses be without its foreign visitors? … Protectionism is the best way to scare away private investment." (14/06/2013)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Película, » Comercio, » Cultura, » Francia, » Italia, » Europa, » EE.UU.
Todos los textos disponible de » Giorgio Barba Navaretti

The real threat to the success of the free trade agreement is not France's opposition, since a compromise will be found for the French film industry, the left-liberal daily Der Standard writes, stressing that data protection will be the true sticking point: "The Europeans fear the power and data hunger of the US Internet giants, who in turn fear the strict laws of the EU and the costs they incur. It will take creativity and pathience to unravel this Gordian knot. But precisely the data scandal involving the US's National Security Agency, which has little to do with economic issues, threatens to turn the fine tuning of technicalities into an ideological conflict that will never lead to an agreement. … Yet a fundamental matter is at stake with these negotiations, namely the economic future of the West. … The coming weeks will show whether the transatlantic partnership is still strong enough to ensure that not just single trees, but the whole forest is protected." (14/06/2013)

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Todos los textos disponible de » Eric Frey

The sudden closure of the Greek public broadcaster ERT is a blow to democracy, Bruno Tersage, Greece correspondent for the Belgian TV station VRT, writes in the left-liberal daily De Morgen: "In any event Greece doesn't have a good reputation regarding press freedom. Last year the country dropped 14 places on the International Press Freedom Index [from 70th to 84th]. ... The private radio and television stations are in the hands of rich oligarchs, almost all of whom amassed fortunes through lucrative contracts with the state. These broadcasters are a far cry from objective reporting (and even ERT wasn't always as a paragon of objectivity). In addition, the names of almost all the owners come up in one way or another in connection with the Lagarde list. This decision has done nothing to improve the quality of reporting in Greece, and democracy has been dealt a hard blow by the blind cost-cutting frenzy." (13/06/2013)

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Todos los textos disponible de » Bruno Tersago
Cobertura de debates » Austerity driving Greece to despair

Just shutting down the public broadcaster: you don't even see that in a dictatorship, the liberal daily Público comments indignantly: "Not even in the most unstructured or dictatorial states have we witnessed what we are now seeing in Greece: the silencing of the state television and radio broadcaster. ... And the pretext is simply outrageous. ... To close down the state broadcaster ERT under the cloak of 'modernisation' and claim the move was supposedly demanded by the troika is a shameful action for any European country worthy of the name. Restructuring and silencing are not synonyms - on the contrary. ... The blank screens now reflect disgust, revolts and indignation." (13/06/2013)

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Cobertura de debates » Austerity driving Greece to despair

Now that Prime Minister Samaras has overridden his coalition partners and closed the Greek public broadcaster, observers increasingly reckon with early elections. The Greeks must now decide whether they want democracy or not, the blogger Pitsirikos writes: "Samaras is acting as if he had an absolute majority. But he doesn't. In addition, he's the most unpopular prime minister [Greece has had for decades], and rules with the support of two failed politicians, Evangelos Venizelos and Fotis Kouvelis. ... And the way he follows the troika's orders like a lapdog is nothing but a joke. ... The authoritarianism and arrogance of Antonis Samaras, as well as the looming [political] marriage with Golden Dawn, bring clarity to the political landscape. ... The parliament has a purely decorative function. The question is whether we want democracy or not. We have to answer it ourselves. We can't go on acting as if we don't know. And if we want democracy, we should fight for democracy." (13/06/2013)

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Todos los textos disponible de » Blogger Pitsirikos
Cobertura de debates » Austerity driving Greece to despair

The austerity policy imposed by Europe bears partial responsibility for the demise of the Greek public broadcaster, the left-liberal daily Libération writes: "The consternation of the people of Greece, which has spilled over onto the entire continent, is an appropriate reaction to an act that is hardly worthy of a democracy. Antonis Samaris bears full responsibility. Because the Greek prime minister is the one who acted without even consulting his coalition partners. Samaras, who for months has been incapable of introducing the promised reforms and who has been unable to convince a single investor of the merits of the privatisations he's committed to, must now face up to his responsibilities. But the troika, Greece's creditors, can't be exonerated. It's unlikely that the European Commission openly called for the closure of the public radio and television. Nevertheless the obtuse austerity policy imposed on Greece is one of the causes." (13/06/2013)

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Cobertura de debates » Austerity driving Greece to despair