SAE Media Group 20th Annual Benelux Infrastructure Forum 16 – 17 November 2022

This article was published in association with SMI. Website: http://www.beneluxconf.com/EuropeanStingWL SAE Media Group proudly present the 20th Annual Benelux Infrastructure Forum, once again taking place in-person and in Amsterdam.  The 2022 iteration will bring together key professionals in the infrastructure, financing, and innovation sectors to discuss the latest issues and trends within the Benelux market.  […]

Questions and answers: European Commission endorses Luxembourg’s €93 million recovery and resilience plan

This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. How did the Commission assess Luxembourg’s recovery and resilience plan? The Regulation ensures a transparent assessment on the basis of 11 criteria against the back of the six pillars of the Regulation. The 11 criteria require an assessment of whether: the measures have a […]

Luxembourg has achieved high levels of growth and well-being but must do more to preserve and share prosperity

This article is brought to you in association with OECD. Luxembourg’s economy has grown at a robust pace and has enviable levels of well-being, but public policy can do more to make growth sustainable and inclusive, according to a new report from the OECD. The latest OECD Economic Survey of Luxembourg discusses the challenges of making housing more […]

These countries have the highest minimum wages

This article is brought to you thanks to the collaboration of The European Sting with the World Economic Forum. Author: Emma Charlton, Writer Where should workers move to in order to earn the best minimum wage? The answer is Australia or Luxembourg, according to data from Germany’s Wirtschafts-und Sozialwissenschaftliches Institut (WSI), which compared pay in different countries on a […]

Commission hardens its stance against carmakers ensuring emissions reductions targets

The car industry will be under tighter surveillance by the European Commission after 2020 when the next phase of the EU’s emission regulation will take place. All car manufacturers who do not meet the 2021 fleet CO2 emissions compliance for new passenger vehicles sold in the Old Continent will face fines of more than €14 […]

Minority governments ‘à la mode’ in Europe but can they last long?

With the Italian elections set for 4 March and anticipated to produce a hang parliament, four out of the five bigger European countries will be in political limbo for a good part, if not for the entire new year 2018. France is the only exception in this Euro-plague of political uncertainty. In some cases the […]

A neo-liberal toll free Paradise for the super rich and tax hell for wage earners

Despite the hullaballoo in main stream media about Queen Elizabeth’s investments in tax-havens and the implication of the US Trade Secretary Wilbur Ross in a Russia related offshore firm, the shocking revelation in the Paradise Papers is that London appears as the largest money washing machine of the world. The biggest single disclosure is that […]

The 28 EU leaders unable to start a relevant debate on migration and Brexit

The poor results of last week’s meeting of the 28 EU leaders are reflected in the triviality of the remarks by the Council President Donald Tusk, in summarizing the outcome of the 17 – 18 December gathering in Brussels. His most vivid comment was about the “hard work done and the extreme efficiency of the […]

Starbucks and FIAT again under Commission’s microscope: is Europe ready to kick multinationals out of the house?

Some multinationals (MNEs) such as FIAT and Starbucks have been overdoing it in the EU for quite some time now. The case of tax investigation of the aforementioned companies on whether they have paid the correct amount of corporate income tax or not is ongoing for over a year now. The Commissioner responsible for Competition, Mrs […]

The EU Parliament blasts the Council about the tax dealings of the wealthy

The European Parliament once more honored its role as the authentic exponent of the will of the European citizens. Last Tuesday it dismissed as a “missed opportunity” the EU Council’s decision to water down the mandatory exchange of the ‘tax rulings’ between member states. A ‘tax ruling’ is a special taxation arrangement accorded to a […]

The EU to fight cross-border tax evasion with a toothless directive

On Tuesday 6 October the powerful Economic and Financial Affairs Council of the European Union, the well know ECOFIN group, took a decision advertised to be monumental. For the first time ever the 28 EU countries agreed to shed some light on the ‘tax rulings’, as well as at the ‘advance pricing arrangements’. These are […]

EU Youth Conference concludes in Luxembourg with concrete plans on how to create real youth participation

Over 200 young people and policy makers from across Europe have this week agreed on a set of joint recommendations and on how to implement these in order to empower young people to participate politically. The EU Youth Conference (which took place in Luxembourg City from 21st to 24th September) on “empowering young people for political participation […]

Who is to lose from the 6-month extension of the EU economic sanctions against Russia?

The European Foreign Ministers gathered in Luxembourg two days ago and decided to continue imposing economic sanctions to Russia for another six months. This shows the strong intention of Europe to weaken Russia’s power in Ukraine and thus put a stop on Russia’s imperialistic plans. However, Russia claims these sanctions as “illegal and unfounded” and will fight […]

Why do thousands of migrants need to be drowned for Brussels to wake up?

The European Union is once more hit by migration. Last Sunday, around 800 illegal immigrants are believed to have died when their ship sank on the way from the Libyan coast to the Italian Island of Lampedusa. As a result, the EU foreign and interior ministers gathered in Luxembourg earlier this week to discuss about the migration crisis […]

Benjamin Franklin was wrong: Amazon can tax evade

“In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes”, Benjamin Franklin said back in the 18th century. Three hundred years later in principle it maintains validity, when it comes to the former. Of course for most developed societies tax is a de facto obligation of the citizen. Most of us we […]

European Commission: Does Apple, Starbucks and Fiat really pay their taxes?

The European Commission (EC) decided two days ago to conduct an investigation which will focus on the tax affairs of Apple, Starbucks and Fiat Finance and Trade in Ireland, the Netherlands and Luxembourg respectively. Basically, EC’s purpose is to examine if the tax authorities of the aforementioned countries are in line with the rules of […]

The European Parliament wants to stay in one place

At last – it was high time that the European Parliament took the responsibility to determine its own agenda and of course to decide where it sits! For decades now legislators travel incessantly to and from between Brussels, Strasbourg and Luxembourg, running after timetables and squandering taxpayers’ money in travel expenses and hotel bookings. Thank […]