At the 7th European REUSE Conference, on 24 September 2019, I was asked to speak on the implementation of reuseable packaging in Europe. The conference was organised by Environmental Action Germany (Deutsche Umwelthilfe e.V.), the European Association of Beverage Wholesalers (CEGROBB), Private Breweries Germany, and Reloop. More information on the conference can be found here: […]
Tax: EU Member States must stop blocking action on tax transparency
Today, Members of the European Parliament have voted on a resolution calling on Member States to make progress on measures designed to improve tax transparency for multinationals. In the five years since the LuxLeaks scandal, which showed the extent of multinational tax avoidance, EU Member States have blocked a European Commission proposal on public country-by-country […]
Deutsche Bank cutting ties with Malta: European Banking Union needs effective anti-money laundering measures
The financial centre of Malta, which has been hit by money laundering and corruption scandals, cannot shake off its reputation as a gateway to dirty money. Deutsche Bank will therefore cease all activities as a correspondent bank in Malta at the end of the year. Before the announcement of Deutsche Bank, the Dutch ING had […]
Eurozone budget: decision of EU finance ministers weakens European democracy
Today, 10 October 2019, the President of the Eurogroup, Mario Centeno, declared in a press conference the decision taken on the eve regarding the establishment of a budget for the euro area. The so-called budgetary instrument for competitiveness and convergence will provide financial incentives to implement reforms proposed to individual Member States in the context […]
Men’s nomination: EU Parliament must seek institutional conflict after Panetta’s nomination for ECB Executive Board
Today the Eurogroup decided to nominate Fabio Panetta to succeed Benoît Coeuré as a member of the ECB Executive Board. Following the departure of Mrs Lautenschläger, there would now be five men and only one woman (Christine Lagarde) on the Executive Board, and 24 men and only one woman on the Governing Council. MEP Sven […]
Valdis Dombrovskis Hearing: Commitment to new Action Plan on Green Financial Markets is an important step
Valdis Dombrovskis is the candidate for the post of future Executive Vice-President of the Commission for “An economy that works for people”. In today’s hearing before the European Parliament, Dombrovskis committed to deliver a new action plan for a sustainable financial sector. The action plan for sustainable financial markets is Dombrovskis’ response to a Green […]