Sometimes you come across something which makes you wonder just how anglo-centric your view of the world is. Nothing wrong in that necessarily – I am after all English and very proud (for all our faults) to be so. But even as a proud Englander, I lik…

On EUobserver today, Open Europe spells out in some more detail what we consider to be wrong with the EU’s budget and how it should be reformed. The piece is a response to Commissioner Siim Kallas’ article on the same site a few days ago. We argue,The …

A paper floated by the Commission proposes to give the EU budget a more sensible focus - away from the current Byzantine arrangement in which subsidies are dished out to farmers and non-farmers alike and a range of ludacrious projects in richer member…

Carbon taxes will not be the panacea national governments are probably expecting and their challenge for the future will be to use tax policy as an instrument of positive change. Using environmental and green taxation to boost falling tax revenues needs indeed careful planning by government and policy makers.
An essential requirement of green taxes [...]

 
(This is the fifth of six chapters in Eberhard Rhein’s Malta lecture series.) 
 
The technologies for generating low or zero-carbon energy exist. But will they be applied? Not only marginally but at the global scale required to successfully mitigate climate change?
That depends essentially on the type of incentives governments offer.
Without much higher prices of fossil energy [...]

Today at the European Business Summit in Brussels a workshop was organized focusing on health entitled “Ageing and health: Pay for the grey”. The distinguished panel included Androulla Vassilliou, European Commissioner for Health, AGE, the European Older People’s platform, and the Japanese ambassador to the EU and last but not least industry representatives. Not surprisingly, [...]

Here we go again. At this stage I think we are all aware that the rapid globalisation of the world, it’s finances and lack of control thereof, is to blame for the current crisis we are in. What are we to do?
 
Well, our [...]

The overall fiscal burden on European citizens is already high and should not be increased. The present ceiling on own resources - set at 1.27 per cent of aggregate GNI - appears on the whole adequate for the present and perspective tasks of the Union, if the ceiling is fully utilised by removing the implicit […]

Original post by A. Maiocchi - European Movement Italy (CIME)

As far as the budget is concerned, we need to focus primarily not on expenditure but on those aspects of fiscal policy of the Member States which fall under the remit of the EU.
The first priority is to eliminate the idea of unanimity- that is to say, the right to veto- in decisions pertaining to […]

Original post by Consejo Federal Español del Movimiento Europeo

We should seriously consider the introduction of a “European VAT” and a “European Income Tax” which would go directly towards financing the EU. These taxes would substitute a part of the VAT contributions and a part of the direct contributions from each member state. These new taxes would play a great role in increasing citizens’ […]

Original post by Consejo Federal Español del Movimiento Europeo

We need to work towards a minimum standardization of all direct taxation. Admittedly, this is difficult but it is achievable. We have already made advances in this direction in the following areas: company mergers, subsidiaries, and the elimination of double taxation for associated companies. However, the standardization of the taxation of losses incurred in other […]

Original post by Consejo Federal Español del Movimiento Europeo

We need to achieve the complete standardization of VAT in all Member States. The principle of free decision about exemptions and rates of interest, and the problems of calculations of VAT in operations of purchase and resale within different member states, fly in the face of a common VAT system.
This post was submitted by Consejo […]

Original post by Consejo Federal Español del Movimiento Europeo

As far as the budget is concerned, we need to focus primarily not on expenditure but on those aspects of fiscal policy of the Member States which fall under the remit of the EU. This needs to be done step by step.
First of all we need to eliminate the idea of unanimity- that is to […]

Original post by Consejo Federal Español del Movimiento Europeo

Since the large majority of Europe’s heritage assets are privately owned and public funding for their upkeep is insufficient, the EU Institutions and all Member States need to adopt incentives for private investments in repairing, restoring and maintaining historical buildings and cultural heritage, such as a reduced rate of VAT.
In 1999 the European Council adopted […]

Original post by Eléonore

in order to increase the rate of employment and apply the policies of equal opportunities for all the citizens it would be important to permit investors from third countries can create enterprises in EU members.
If an investor from Latinamerica, Asia, Africa or Ooeania create an interprise and he can give employments to european citizens, the […]

Original post by Jairo López C

Kyoto, Bali, etc. are international agreements that have in common the fact that the world is boycotted by a small number of countries.
The EU is the only supranational structure in the world able to show the way with environmental taxation, therefore the EU should implement taxation on fields like kerosene for planes traveling from, to […]

Original post by Union of European Federalists

The budget of the EU as it is these days does not serve the objectives of the Union. It is not big enough to develop credible foreign policy or not even to monitor the correct implementation of EU directives around Europe.
One of the most nationalist and anti-european demonstration that we get from our European leaders […]

Original post by Union of European Federalists