The daily Les Echos sees the campaign against tax havens primarily as a question of morality: "Having first done away with golden parachutes, the wind of morality that has been blowing since the financial crisis is now sweeping across another totem of deregulated capitalism: tax havens. By assembling 17 allegedly model states at an international conference in Paris French Budget Minister Eric Woerth and his German colleague, Finance Minister Peer Steinbrück intended above all to send a political message ... The big clean states want to mobilise support to impress the small tax havens. In this respect the absence of the United States weakens the message. Does one really have to emphasise that tax havens can only thrive alongside tax hells? Does a country that deducts 44 percent of the national income every year and in which the introduction of a tax limit at 50% of income causes a scandal really have a tax system that is beneficial for the economy?" (22/10/2008)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, francuski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka finansowa, » Podatki, » Niemcy, » Francja, » Szwajcaria
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Jean-Françis Pécresse

The daily Le Quotidien sees the criticism of tax havens as an attempt to make Switzerland into a scapegoat for the continuting financial crisis: "We all know that in times of crisis people always look for a scapegoat ... that one can pull out of the hat to blame for the troubles of the world. And indeed France and Germany have found the answer to the question 'Who is responsible for the financial crisis?': namely, the tax havens. We are not disputing the fact that these tax havens have led the way in covering up information and have thus aggravated the financial crisis that was triggered by a lack of transparency. Yet in times of crisis a discussion about tax havens [allows] ... those states who believe themselves to be above all wrongdoing to point a finger at the states they hold responsible for all the ills of the world. And since those who are absent are always in the wrong, responsibility has been shifted to Switzerland, which Germany would like to see put on the OECD blacklist of tax havens." (22/10/2008)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, francuski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Przedsiębiorczość, » Rynki finansowe, » Podatki, » Niemcy, » Francja, » Szwajcaria
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Delphine Dard

German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrück has attacked Switzerland's banking secrecy in order to raise additional funds for Germany's budget deficit, the conservative daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung writes: "Switzerland is an important financial centre. However, even the Swiss authorities cannot just ask for banking records when they suspect citizens of tax evasion. But Steinbrück cares little about national sovereignty when it comes to raising money for his budget, which is about to run into a huge deficit. ... The OECD's "blacklist" brings Switzerland close to the status of a banana republic. This makes it even easier to demand a comprehensive "exchange of information," the fully transparent citizen. If Switzerland falls, the EU states Belgium, Luxembourg and Austria will have to give in as well." (23/10/2008)

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Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka finansowa, » Podatki, » Szwajcaria
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Jürgen Dunsch

The daily Corriere del Ticino denounces the accusations made by German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrück against Switzerland as undiplomatic and offensive. (Steinbrück said the country was deliberately trying to attract German tax evaders.) It writes that Steinbrück is merely trying to divert attention from problems in his own country. "The German finance minister is obviously under great nervous strain. The wave of problems the financial crisis has brought has ... understandably affected his inner balance. But any sympathy for him has evaporated now that he has issued these hallucinatory threats to exchange the carrot for a stick. [This is] an expression that a German politician cannot afford to employ regarding a friendly neighbouring country. ... His harsh choice of words leads one to suspect that Steinbrück lacks the courage to deal with the true culprits in Germany's financial crisis and is therefore looking for a scapegoat to divert the attention of the worried public." (23/10/2008)

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Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Stosunki międzynarodowe, » Polityka finansowa, » Niemcy, » Szwajcaria
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Luciano Barile

Protests against cuts that affect the education system and other sectors have been going on for several weeks now in Italy. This weekend the left-wing democratic opposition party PD plans to stage a rally against the policies of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's government. The Italian daily La Stampa criticises Berlusconi's threats to take action against the protests. "The intended or unintended result of Berlusconi's words has been that the different movements have now merged into a single united front. There are calls for the [PD] party's rally to be opened to all the different parties. The upshot of this could be that the demonstration turns once again - as was the case several years ago - into an anti-Berlusconi rally for which the left-wing opposition pays a high price and thanks to which Berlusconi has accumulated a generous amount of political capital in recent years. We don't know whether the Prime Minister's intention [by forcing the PD into a radical position] was to increase the tension. But one thing is for sure: this is not the right way to convince students, teachers and parents of the merits of the school reform. ... Sending soldiers to deal with piles of rubbish in Naples is not the same as militarising schools." (23/10/2008)

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Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka wewnętrzna, » Włochy
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Federico Geremicca

Dismissing an appeal by the German government against an earlier ruling, Italy's supreme court has ruled that Germany must pay the victims of a Nazi massacre that took place in June 1944 800,000 euros in compensation. The Süddeutsche Zeitung criticises the court's decision. "Dictators and warlords like Milosevic can be sentenced for their crimes by foreign and international tribunals. ... Now the judges in Rome are applying the same principle to compensation law. ... This is ... all very well - but is it right? Even rich Germany would be hard put to pay for all the injustices that Nazi Germany committed all over the world. The same goes for the misdeeds committed by the colonial powers or the Soviet Union. It is too much to expect compensation law to settle the old accounts of the past. Reparations agreements and peace-making organisations like the EU are better suited to this purpose. The [German] government is thus right to reject the logic applied by the judges in Rome. But this does not relieve it of the moral obligation to try to be as accommodating as possible towards the families of the victims." (23/10/2008)

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Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Stosunki międzynarodowe, » Historia, » Niemcy, » Włochy

According to a press report, when his EU Council presidency ends at the end of the year French President Nicolas Sarkozy wants to remain at the centre of Europolitics as leader of the Eurogroup. The Czech Republic will be the next country to hold the rotating EU presidency. The Prague-based newspaper Pražský deník asks whether it would be such a bad thing if Sarkozy were indeed to continue as EU Council president. "The troop of Czech Eurosceptics has nothing to offer Europe anyway. It has neither been able to diagnose the present crisis nor produce a prescription or a remedy. For sure, this is a delicate matter because it could convey the impression that the French are simply better. But to be frank, virtually any other country would be able to do the EU better service than our 'association of the friends of US President Bush'. Naturally, Europe has experienced worse things in its past than the threat of a Czech presidency, but our politicians needn't force themselves to don a mask of EU enthusiasm they don't identify with. ... No one here would be put out if [Prime Minister] Topolánek were to travel to Brussels, excuse himself and confine himself to playing the role of a visiting student for half a year." (23/10/2008)

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Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka UE, » Francja, » Czechy, » Europa
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Ivan Hoffman

The visit of American terrorism expert Yonah Alexander to Sweden on Wednesday prompts the daily Svenska Dagbladet to examine the possibility of young Swedes joining terrorist groups in the Middle East. "Swedish law cannot prevent anyone from travelling to Iraq to join the holy war, not even if the authorities know that the person in question has connections with [the Islamic terrorist organisation] al-Qaeda. Under Swedish law it is also irrelevant if the person - to use the words of al-Qaeda - throws his Swedish passport away to take part in the holy war that it has been propagating for the past 15 years. It would, however, be appropriate if the Swedish state were to apply different criteria for the granting of passports. Sweden should not come to be regarded as a free space for jihadists. The deliberations are complex, but they must be made. If not, what will we think of our legal system if the day comes when our own soldiers in Afghanistan stand face to face in battle with a [Swedish] compatriot?" (23/10/2008)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, szwedzki)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka bezpieczeństwa / Kryzys / Wojna, » Polityka wewnętrzna, » Szwecja, » Bliski i Środkowy Wschód

Tiia Lehtonen, a researcher at the Foreign Policy Institute in Finland, argues in a guest contribution to the daily Helsingin Sanomat that the current international financial crisis could speed up the adoption of a common EU constitution. "Even if Ireland almost dealt the Lisbon treaty the death blow with its "no" vote in June, the current situation must be evaluated differently. ... The Lisbon treaty would enhance the EU and its bureaucracy's ability to meet the challenges of the new century, such as climate change, energy problems, ... natural disasters, international crime and terrorism. It would also mean a reform of the institutional structure tailored to the requirements of the EU's 27 European member-states. The continuing economic crises and the developments concerning Georgia have shown the Irish prime minister and his colleagues the value of being a member of the EU - particularly the economic value ... in order not to suffer a fate similar to Iceland's ... One might think that a solution [regarding the EU constitution] is now in sight, since the weakest link in the chain has been encouraged to help settle the crisis ... So far the best way of helping the island state to make a decision would be for all the other member states to ratify the treaty before Christmas." (23/10/2008)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, fiński)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka UE, » Konstytucja UE, » Polityka finansowa, » Polityka gospodarcza, » Europa

Mia Doornaert asks in the daily De Standaard why the popularity of some of Europe's political leaders has risen as quickly as the stock markets have fallen: "The neo-Gaullist [and French president] Nicolas Sarkozy, the Labour leader [and British prime minister] Gordon Brown and the Christian Democrat [German chancellor] Angela Merkel have defended the political and social correctives to the free market. The British prime minister has worked to free his party from an archaic Marxism and a blind belief in nationalisation. But that doesn't make him an ultra-liberal. Ultra-liberalism does not belong in the Christian Democratic tradition, which emphasises social correctives to the market economy. And as for Nicolas Sarkozy - in this crisis he fits the role of French president and chairman of the European Union perfectly. The French have been brought up to believe in the guiding hand of the state and in the primacy of politics over economics. ... What all these European leaders have in common with Barack Obama is that they do not want to undermine the free market but rather are calling for rules to make this market function better. Neo-Marxism on the other hand is not finding any takers." (23/10/2008)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, niderlandzki)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka bezpieczeństwa / Kryzys / Wojna, » Europa
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Mia Doornaert

The United States has announced that a world finance summit will be held on 15 November to discuss the reform of the international financial system. Since it is not a member of the G20 group of the leading industrialised and newly industrialising countries, Spain has not been invited.The daily El Mundo comments: "Having decided to travel immediately to China to take part in the summit meeting between the EU and Asia, Bush's announcement has no doubt hit Zapatero like a bucket of icey cold water thrown in his face. ... The arguments Zapatero can make [for attending the meeting] are obvious: in terms of GDP and foreign investment Spain counts among the first ten countries. It makes one of the biggest contributions to the UN and has banks of international stature. But it is unlikely that Zapatero will receive fresh support or that Bush will change his mind, for the Spanish government has made a series of mistakes that are now becoming evident. The most recent mistake was to boast that Europe envies us [Spain] for the stability of our financial system." (23/10/2008)

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Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Stosunki międzynarodowe, » Polityka finansowa, » Rynki finansowe, » Hiszpania, » Europa, » USA

For the first time in the coming year employees will retire whose pension will come from a pension fund. It is already clear now that they will receive less, because the stock markets have suffered such losses. For this reason Gazeta Wyborcza attacks the pensions policies of previous governments: "Already next year the first people will receive pensions of which initially a small part will come from the fund. Their pensions will be at least ten Złoty lower than one would have estimated a few months ago. Although that is not very much, for the poor every penny counts. And for all of us the feeling that our pensions are safe counts ... Now the [pension] volume has been reduced to zero! The last three goverments of the SLF [post-communists], PiS [national conservatives] and the PO [liberals] are to blame: for even today there is still no law on safe funds in which companies will invest our money when we don't have much time left until retirement." (23/10/2008)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, polski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka wewnętrzna, » Demografia, » Rynki finansowe, » Polska
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Dominika Wielowieyska

The Portuguese writer and Nobel Prize winner José Saramago has produced a blog supporting Spanish examining magistrate Baltasar Garzón's plans to reopen the investigation of crimes committed during the Spanish Civil War and under the dictatorship of General Francisco Franco that followed: "Garzón is the examining magistrate who has done the most to please those who still believe in justice. ... In response to complaints that he received he has intervened in a matter that is larger than himself and larger than all judicial institutions: ... He knows that he may [eventually] have to give up, but now all the doors to truth stand open. ... Garzón has helped to make this happen. Never before have the victims of the civil war been so happy. ... For Garzón all human concerns are his own. He is intervening in matters that he describes as criminal because he has the legal power to do so." (22/10/2008)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, portugalski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka wewnętrzna, » Historia, » Hiszpania
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » José Saramago

The weekly Kapital comments on Bulgaria's new "Sleda" (Trace) project for monuments built in the communist era: "All these monuments resemble each other in that regardless of their age they were meant to cultivate national pride. But now we are trying to 'erase' them out of a sense of shame - [either] in a loud and graphic manner, as in the case of Georgi Dimitrov's [former head of Comintern and Bulgarian prime minister] mausoleum, or by simply ignoring them and in this way condemning them to oblivion and decay. Monuments are places of remembrance - they create associations, both negative and positive, between people and their past. The destruction of monuments is a failed attempt to suppress complexes which have their roots in the past; it is not a solution. If one leaves them standing and adds a notice explaining why they were built, with what funding and during which political era, these monuments might help us to perceive communism as a piece of our past that differs from our present but does not overshadow our future." (23/10/2008)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, bułgarski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Architektura / Miasta, » Historia, » Bułgaria
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Bosilena Melteva

The Spanish daily La Vanguardia applauds France's broadcasting policy aimed at gradually banning advertising from state television: "This drastic and genuine change in the rules that govern broadcasting will take the pressure off state television in the battle for viewing ratings and with economic constraints. And because at the same time more money will flow into private television, the measure will lead to the formation of large private media groups who are in a position to compete on the international market. And this is precisely what the big nations of the European Union, including Spain, need. The French law is a major step forwards for European broadcasting because it's obvious that the model whereby public media are financed by both advertising and public money (whether from license fees or the state budget, as in Spain) is anachronistic. Public funding is there to finance services and not to compete with private enterprise." (23/10/2008)

» Dalsze informacje (Link zewnętrzny, hiszpański)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Media audiowizualne, » Polityka medialna, » Francja, » Hiszpania, » Europa