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Commission calls on Swiss to change company tax regimes

14 February 2007, 01:02 CET

(BRUSSELS) - The European Commission on Tuesday called on Switzerland to scrap its "unfair tax advantages" for Swiss companies but stopped short of threatening to use trade sanctions.

Switzerland enjoys the benefits of privileged access to the EU market "and must accept the responsibilities that go along with this," the EU's External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said.

"The decision the Commission has taken is not about tax competition but about state aid undermining the level playing field necessary for our partnership and the trade relations between Switzerland and the EU," she added.

The Commission believes that certain company tax regimes in Swiss Cantons are a form of state aid "incompatible with the proper functioning of the 1972 agreement between the EU and Switzerland."

These regimes include schemes offering unfair tax advantages to companies established in Switzerland for profits generated in the EU.

"The Commission asks Switzerland to amend these tax schemes to bring them in line with the terms of the agreement," the EU's executive arm said in a statement.

The Commission has also asked EU member states for a mandate to start direct negotiations with Switzerland with a view to finding a mutually acceptable solution.

Ferrero-Waldner spokeswoman Emma Udwin told a press conference that the Commission could apply unspecified "safeguard measures" to deal with the situation in Switzerland, which is not an EU member, but added that this was not the goal.

"We are not looking for there to be negative consequences. What we want is an agreement. We are not threatening, what we are looking for is a solution that all sides can agree on."

Multinational companies based in Switzerland rejected the EU call to scrap tax advantages for companies, saying Brussels was seeking to block competition and that it should not interfere in market dynamics.

Swissholdings, a federation of 40 multinational companies, called on the Swiss government to stand firm against what it deemed the EU's "untenable and partly false" demands.

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BRUSSEL PROTECTIONSIM - A SURE WAY TO BANKRUPTCY (A LA USA)

Posted by Nick Carter at 06 July 2008, 18:01 CET

The article is well-written. It is clear that Brussels is on a mission to consolidate its position as the central authority governing the affairs of Europe: which no doubt will in time become an oligarchy. Beware of central governments. Look at the mess throughout Africa. It all happens when central governments become too powerful. Rather adopt the Swiss model of smaller communities making their own decisions of how to govern themselves. I say a) Disband Brussels and use the Swiss governance system throughout Europe to put control back in the hands of the ordinary citizen at an affordable cost. b) Reduce goverment expenditure and redirect this expenditure into business and job creation. c) Make bureacrats measurable by linking their remunertion to keeping low inflation and growth in GDP, only then wil this class of parasites become vaguely production. In closing my view is Brussels' attack on Switzerland is the worst thing they can do. They should instead dopt its policies.

BRUSSEL PROTECTIONSIM - A SURE WAY TO BANKRUPTCY (A LA USA)

Posted by Nick Carter at 06 July 2008, 18:01 CET

The article is well-written. It is clear that Brussels is on a mission to consolidate its position as the central authority governing the affairs of Europe: which no doubt will in time become an oligarchy. Beware of central governments. Look at the mess throughout Africa. It all happens when central governments become too powerful. Rather adopt the Swiss model of smaller communities making their own decisions of how to govern themselves. I say a) Disband Brussels and use the Swiss governance system throughout Europe to put control back in the hands of the ordinary citizen at an affordable cost. b) Reduce goverment expenditure and redirect this expenditure into business and job creation. c) Make bureacrats measurable by linking their remunertion to keeping low inflation and HIGH growth in GDP, only then wil this class of parasites become vaguely production. In closing my view is Brussels' attack on Switzerland is the worst thing they can do. They should instead dopt its policies.