The anti-corruption party “We Continue the Change” (“PP”) has presumably won the parliamentary elections in Bulgaria. According to the Bulgarian election authority, after around 50 per cent of the votes had been counted, PP came in first place with just under 26%. The national-conservative GERB party of ex-Prime Minister Boiko Borissov, who is involved in […]
SLAPP/Press freedom: European Parliament condemns attack on press and civil society through intimidation lawsuits
Dear friends and all those who are interested, The European Parliament has just adopted with a large majority a report against the restriction of freedom of the press and freedom of expression through so-called SLAPP suits (Strategic Lawsuits against Public Participation). The aim of these SLAPP court cases is to silence critical journalists, environmentalists and […]
Public country-by-country reporting clears final hurdle: let us use this momentum to make the European tax transparency zone a global one!
Today, the European Parliament gave its formal consent to public country-by-country tax reporting (“trilogue result”). After a long political struggle, the last hurdle for this important progress in tax policy has thus been cleared. In practice, this means the following for the tax reporting of large companies: 18 months after the directive comes into force, […]
Batteries: My suggestions for sustainable batteries
Dear friends, dear interested, Whether climate protection, energy transition or mobility transition: Batteries are increasingly becoming a key technology for the major challenges of the 21st century. But only sustainable batteries can live up to these expectations. Critics today repeatedly point out the environmental degradation and human rights violations that go hand in hand with […]
Merkel/Macron meeting: Stagnation and progress in the Franco-German tandem
On today’s farewell visit by Chancellor Angela Merkel to France’s President Emmanuel Macron, Sven Giegold, speaker of the German Greens in the European Parliament, comments: “Under Merkel, there was both stagnation and progress in the Franco-German tandem. A ray of hope for Franco-German cooperation was the initiative for the Corona recovery fund in Europe. Merkel’s […]
LuxLetters/Hearing: Short notice cancellation by Luxembourg’s finance minister and tax authorities is unacceptable
Today, 28 October, a public hearing on the LuxLetters scandal is taking place in the FISC subcommittee of the European Parliament. In July, the international “LuxLetters” investigations had revealed that Luxembourg continued to grant tailor-made tax advantages to large companies even after the LuxLeaks scandal in 2014. In order to keep these secret from other […]