The UK is turning its anger towards the EU as the EU is implementing a financial transaction tax. Chancellor George Osborne has threatened new legal action after his pre-emptive challenge was rejected last week. As Osborne said at a meeting of EU finance ministers on Tuesday, “It’s not a tax on bankers, it’s a tax…
Category Archives: Switzerland
Portugal Looks To Meet Its Budget-Deficit Targets
The Portuguese government will continue cutting spending to try to meet budget-deficit targets. This includes cutting spending in ministries and lowering the number of public workers. As explained in the Wall Street Journal, “Portugal will exit a three-year, €78 billion ($108 billion) bailout program next month, but lenders—the International Monetary Fund and the European Union—want…
French Rail Industry Portal
France is trying to promote its railways, and it’s doing so with a new English-language web portal. The portal, which launched on March 21, 2014 has two main objectives. It will help to raise awareness among those in the industry worldwide about France’s great railway system. It will also promote news that focuses on France….
EU Renewable Energy Findings
In a recent article, they reported that renewable energy accounted for 14% of gross final energy consumption in the EU. This is up from 12.9% in 2011. As the article said, “Renewable energy employment, economic activity and investment indicators didn’t fare as well, however, reflective of ongoing fiscal and economic problems that have caused EU…
Reorganizing Finance Ministry in Lebanon
Thursday, the EU launched a 2.8 million euro in a twinning project that is supposed to reorganize the Lebanese Finance Ministry. The Finance Ministry Director General Alain Bifani, who represented Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil at the launch, said that the project is of the utmost importance. As he said, “The twinning project launched today…
Croatia Warned to Lower Its Deficit
Croatia, which joined the EU as its 28th member on July 1, has been given some homework. The EU finance ministers have ruled that Croatia has excessive budget deficit and that they must reduce it by 2016. According to the European Commission, Croatia’s deficit is expected to widen to 6.4% of gross domestic product in…
Michael Noonan Recognized by The Banker
Finance Minister Michael Noonan has been named the European Finance Minister of the year by the Financial Times magazine The Banker. In stark comparison, in 2010, Brian Lenihan was named the worst European finance minister by the “FT” when Ireland was facing a bailout. The current awards celebrate ministers who are restoring the economy and…
Want Malta Citizenship? No Problem
If you’re interested in obtaining Malta citizenship, you might just be in luck. Malta has recently announced proposals to sell citizenship of its nation. All it will take is €650,000 (about $888,000). Not surprisingly, the Maltese government has halted its efforts to offer this perk due to rising criticism from both inside Malta and from…
New Bonus Cap Regulations Could Affect Many
Recent figures from the EU banking regulator showed that more than 3500 bankers in Europe earned €1bn (£833m) or more last year. Britain has 12 times as many high earners as did any other country. The data from the European Banking Authority showed that 3529 bankers in the EU earned at least €1m in 2012….
EU & World Bank Helping the Mindanao Trust Fund
In recent news, the European Union and the World Bank have signed an agreement to formalize the contribution that the regional bloc makes to the Mindanao Trust Fund-Reconstruction and Development Program (MTF-RDP). The EU has made the pledge to offer another €8 million (about P467 million) to the fund with the intention of addressing the…
