A Brussels dinner brings together the walking wounded from an election that has reshaped the politics of at least four nations Prime ministers, presidents, and chancellors from across Europe are to dine in Brussels on Tuesday evening, and digest the verdict from their respective disenchanted voters. Many will arrive as walking wounded, their credibility battered, their reputations bruised, their policies...
Information Commissioners Office working with Luxembourg data protection authority over eBays data break-in The Information Commissioners Office (ICO) has said that it is looking into the eBay break-in , which led to the company issuing password change notices to users on Wednesday. The ICO is considering a full investigation into the cyberattack that resulted in hackers gaining access to a database...
In Luxembourg in 2009 turnout was more than 90%, while in parts of eastern Slovakia it barely scraped above 10% The consistent slump in turnouts for European elections from around two-thirds of voters in 1979 to two-fifths 30 years later tells only half the story. In some countries, Euro-enthusiasm is little diminished; in others, it never took off in the first place. In Luxembourg in 2009 more than...
German European MP Sven Giegold calls for tougher rules after German sales of $8.7bn in 2012 channelled via Luxembourg Amazon's main German unit paid income tax of just 3m (£2.6m) in 2012 after the group channelled sales to German clients of $8.7bn (£5.75bn) via Luxembourg, prompting one lawmaker to call for an investigation of the company. Accounts for Amazon.de GmbH filed with Germany's...
Nationalised bailed out Franco-Belgian bank reports losses for first half of 2013 after 1.17bn loss in 2012 Nationalised Franco-Belgian bank Dexia, which was one of the biggest casualties of the financial crisis, lost another 905m (£777m) in the first half of 2013, although a fall in funding costs helped it do slightly better than in the same period a year ago. Dexia, once the world's largest...
As EU politicians desperately try to save euro, plans emerge to deepen the union, widening Brussels regulatory powers As the skies over euroland darken, at least the jokes in Brussels are getting better. At a recent gathering to discuss the crisis that threatens to unravel the euro, one former member of the European parliament observed acidly: "They ought to give this year's Charlemagne prize...
The word 'fulfilment' introduced in 2006 marked new role for Amazon.co.uk after ownership moved to Luxembourg It would have taken the most eagle-eyed reader to spot the introduction of a single, but hugely significant, word into Amazon.co.uk Limited's annual accounts in 2006. For the first time, the word "fulfilment" was introduced into the description of the company's activities. What would...
Online retailer's British operation owned by company in Luxembourg which receives all payments for books, DVDs and other goods Amazon.co.uk, Britain's biggest online retailer, generated sales of more than £3.3bn in the country last year but paid no corporation tax on any of the profits from that income and is under investigation by the UK tax authorities. Regulatory filings by parent company...
suffering unbearably' Belgium is expected on Thursday to become the first country in the world to abolish all age restrictions on the right to die, extending permitted euthanasia to terminally ill children. Following months of painful and divisive debate the Belgian parliament is expected to pass a law extending euthanasia – which has been possible in the country for the past 12 years – to minors....
s office announced on Tuesday. The child will be the couple's first. Felix, 29, is second in the line of succession to his father, Grand Duke Henri, behind his older brother, Prince Guillaume, 32. Guillaume is married to Stephanie, a Belgian countess. They have no children. Luxembourg, bordered by Germany, Belgium and France, has been fully independent since the mid-19th century. One of Europe...
s recent exit from a year-long recession. Ratings agency Standard & Poor's said on Friday that weakening growth prospects showed the country would struggle to improve its financial stability and generate new jobs. It said: "The downgrade reflects our opinion that the Netherlands' growth prospects are now weaker than we had previously anticipated, and the real GDP per capita trend growth rate is persistently...
s data protection commissioner over concerns about its secret involvement with the US National Security Agency (NSA) spy programme Prism, the Guardian has learned. The Microsoft-owned internet chat company could potentially face criminal and administrative sanctions, including a ban on passing users' communications covertly to the US signals intelliigence agency. Skype itself is headquartered in the...
s new transparency bill he, like most politicians, will claim to have the thoughts and needs of his constituents at the forefront of his mind. But Baldoví will know better than most what his voters actually want, thanks to a radical experiment in direct democracy. Baldoví, an MP with the Spanish green party Compromís-Equo, has asked voters to sign up to an online platform that allows them to tell him...
once in a century' agreement to close international loopholes Tax structures used by Amazon to route billions of pounds from sales to British customers through Luxembourg, paying negligible UK tax, are among a series of international loopholes earmarked for closure in a programme of reforms backed by G20 nations. The "once-in-a-century" move to patch up holes in international tax rules was unveiled...
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s Museum of Modern Art , where the Luxembourg-born Steichen was director of photography from 1947 to 1961. It went on to tour the world and become the most successful photography exhibition of all time – more than 10 million people have seen it. It will go back on show this weekend in a castle in Luxembourg , after renovation work that has taken three years. " Family of Man changed the way we view...
s multilateral convention on mutual administrative assistance on tax matters would "increase Austria's ability to actively contribute to the current international effort to [tackle tax] base erosion and profit shifting". After many decades of banking secrecy which have allowed foreign account holders to veil their assets, Fekter said "recent developments" had persuaded Austria of "the importance of...
s extensive activities in the UK, it appears that HMRC inspectors – for reasons we cannot know – have accepted the retailer's insistence that this business is not captured by these four tests. Amazon EU Sarl trades through Amazon.co.uk, and all purchases made by UK customers are invoiced from the company in Luxembourg. This trade is distinct from the activities of the Amazon UK resident company, which...
smoothly' Banks in Cyprus will remain closed at least until Thursday and will then be subject to strict controls to prevent a bank run in the wake of the island's €10bn (£8.5bn) bailout. All but the country's two biggest banks were slated to open on Tuesday, but the central bank now says all lenders will remain closed to ensure the banking system functions "smoothly". Asked whether Cyprus's banks will...
s banking sector is even bigger relative to GDP – and secretive Luxembourg's banks exceed GDP by a factor of 23 For the architects of the Cyprus bailout – the German government and the International Monetary Fund – there was no doubt that the central aim of the shock therapy was to bring down an oversized banking sector that was failing. That applied especially to the Bank of Cyprus, the island's biggest...