The first award ceremony of the Daphne Caruana Galizia Prize for Investigative Journalism of the European Parliament took place today. The first prize winner is the Pegasus Project of the Forbidden Stories investigative network. The creation of the prize was proposed by Eva Joly and Sven Giegold from the Green Group following the murder of […]
ECB’s monetary policy will become greener and more closely aligned with the daily experience of European citizens
Today, on 8 July 2021, the European Central Bank (ECB) presented the outcome of its Strategy Review. Over 18 months, the ECB had reviewed all elements of its monetary policy, trying to take into account the views of a broad range of stakeholders. The final decision was taken by the Governing Council yesterday. Initially, the […]
Eurogroup: Scholz’ plans for the Banking Union have failed
Yesterday, 17 June 2021, the meeting of the Eurogroup in inclusive format ended without any decisions on strengthening the Banking Union (including the common European Deposit Insurance Scheme EDIS). At the Euro Summit in December 2020, the heads of state and government had called for preparing “a stepwise and time-bound work plan on all outstanding […]
EU infringement proceedings/ECB ruling: Appropriate way to resolve the legal conflict
Tomorrow, 9 June, the EU Commission will officially pave the way to an infringement procedure against Germany. In May last year, I had demanded such an infringement procedure from EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen after the German Federal Constitutional Court’s ruling on the ECB’s bond purchases. She then promised me that she would […]
Business taxation: Commission is strong on proposals, weak in willingness to enforce them
Today, 18 May, the Commission presents its plans for modernising corporate taxation in Europe. The declared goal: making business taxation fit for the 21st century, especially with regards to the digitalisation and the globalisation of the economy. Likewise, taxes should be used to curb greenhouse gas emissions and conserve natural resources. The Commission pledges to […]
Mixed verdict on tax breaks for Amazon and Engie: our laws aren’t fit to fight tax dumping
12 May 2021. The General Court of the European Union has just announced its ruling on tax breaks for Amazon and French energy group Engie. The two groups went to Court after Commissioner Margrethe Vestager ordered Luxembourg to collect €250 million in taxes from Amazon in 2017. The reason: the Commission argued that the company […]