Last week, G8 leaders from some of the world’s largest economies met for two days at the five-star Lough Erne Resort in Northern Ireland to discuss trade, tax evasion, transparency and (though not officially on the agenda) the conflict in Syria. So, apart from the delicious-sounding Kilkeel crab, prawn and avocado salad (which we’re sure went down a treat), was the meeting a success?
On Syria, perhaps not so much. Not unexpectedly, Russian President Vladimir Putin refused to sign up to a joint communiqué that called for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down and make way for a transition government. However, a seven-point plan was agreed, committing the G8 to:
- Increase commitment to humanitarian aid.
- Apply diplomatic pressure to bring all sides to the table as soon as possible.
- Back a transitional government.
- “Learn the lessons of Iraq” and maintain Syrian public institutions.
- Work together to “rid Syria of terrorists and extremists”.
- Condemn the use of chemical weapons “by anyone” and allow for a UN investigation.
- Support a new non-sectarian government.
On trade, there was a tacit admission that multilateral WTO negotiations have failed and the G8 will instead be pursuing a free trade agenda through bilateral agreements, including the EU-US Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), the EU-Japan trade agreement and the EU-Canada trade agreement.
On tax evasion, the G8 nations agreed that common rules should be implemented compelling multinational corporations to report where they make their profits and pay their taxes, that shell companies should be forced to disclose their true owners, and that corporate and individual tax information should eventually be shared automatically between tax authorities. They also agreed that tax authorities in the G8 would aim to give developing countries the global tax information they need to tackle corruption and tax evasion.
On transparency, leaders agreed to an Open Data Charter making government data (including concerning budgets and spending) public and easily accessible. They also agreed to implement common global reporting standards for oil, gas and mining companies, to make them declare any payments they make to governments.
What do YOU think? European Council President Hermany Van Rompuy was attending the G8 summit last week, and we took some of YOUR questions to him to answer. We started with a question from Johan on tax evasion:
How would Van Rompuy respond?
https://youtube.com/watch?v=odEnkS2hiE4%3Frel%3D0
Herman Van Rompuy also responded to a question from Geurt on the Ask the President platform:
I’m worried about the gradual disappearance of clothing and other kinds of manufacturing in the EU. The same goes for agricultural products. It is nearly impossible these days to buy anything affordable that is manufactured in the EU and it is putting lots of people out of jobs. Wouldn’t it be sad to see Italian and French shoes and clothing disappear from the world’s markets?
https://youtube.com/watch?v=Bp1zTWkhx50%3Frel%3D0
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Most of countries complaining have heavy taxes systems and an ever growing bureaucracy. By becoming a tax haven as well instead of remaining a tax hell, There won’t be any reason to flee this country any more. They should do the exact opposite, instead of punishing those who have money, they should try to seduce them, It works pretty well for countries like Switzerland. I would welcome the idea of making Europe a Giant Switzerland :)
How about asking another question. Where does all this humongous public debt come from ? How on earth does a government manage to pile up hundreds of billions in debt ? Where has all this money gone ???
And if they cannot make it with more than 50% of the GDP, I seriously doubt taking a couple more of billions in the citizens pockets will change anything. The real issue is how on earth more than 50% of the GDP isn’t enough to have a balanced budget.
For us?? Noooooooooo!!!!!!
Easy: EU should become a tax haven itself.
I found a legal fraud that Europe could tackle in a matter of seconds. The following youtube video clip is in Dutch and it is such a pitty that nobody has yet translated it.
But anyway the reporter went to Brussels and spotted a circus going on on there. Some members of the European Parliament arrive early in the morning to collect 300 (three hundred ) Euros supposingly to cover expenses and return straight to home.
That’s more than 100K per year and per member.
How about that? You don’t need to prosecute anyone, you don’t need any kind of high commission, endless debates, news administration new laws, police investigation…You simply have to cut those things literally in your own building.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=MPbNF1q_6tg
Have they ever heard of Tobbin’s tax on world financial transactions?
Obviously not! Therefore, they fell short of any expectation to track down the world financial-monetary crisis that destroys the real economies of the periphery at first (soon at the heart of G8).
well we place sanctions on every state that does not agree with us… (see Iran for example).. perhaps that is an idea? or is it too harsh? these states are the cause of millions of loss of revenue, that our ordinary tax payers have to cover… if that is not a reason to act boldly, then what is?
I never listen to what the G8, G9, G10, G15, G20, G25 G-Whatever have to say.. They are not legitimate my any means, it is just a club of rich nations that think they have the right to decide the future of the planet on their own! Let them speak and feed their self importance.. The decisions made on a global scale should be with the participation of all countries, not just the rich few…
Olivier, what will happen if all do what Switzerland does? Nobody will pay tax anymore.. If the rich are allowed and seduced to stay in a country by not paying tax, then why should the poor pay tax and not be exempt too, for not having any money to pay? Who will pay taxes then? Or perhaps nobody should pay any taxes to the state, the state is not needed anymore and we should let the corporate companies to provide us with health and social security, roads, water, schools and education, public services and so on.. let the corporate companies provide us with everything and rule us… eeehhmmm..no!
By lowering taxes in its member states. If entrepreneurs could start businesses and hire unemployed EU citizens without paying such high taxes, they wouldn’t have chosen the exile to tax havens.
It isn’t normal to give 60% of our revenue to the state and keep only 40% for ourselves.
Here’s some food for thought on the economic crisis in the Eurozone:
http://www.city-journal.org/2010/eon0625gs.html
They do pay taxes Christos but less than here that’s all. Most people tend to agree to pay a reasonable amount of taxes and it has been theorized by the economist Laffer. But as Natasa says the current rate of taxes is simple outrageous. How can you expect from someone to give 60% (sixty pourcent) of his revenues without complaining or trying to avoid such a thing. It means that he is litteraly forced to work for the state and the ever growing amount of people depending on it : 60% of his time/lifetime. There is a fundamental question behind all this. What kind of society do we want to live in? A society where cooperation/voluntarism is the basis of the society and the taxes remain needed evil…Or a society like ours in constant crisis where the state takes by force large amount of money in everybody pockets and organize the redistribution.That model of society is violent, extremely conflictual. Taxes do not help the poor per se. Currently the poverty keeps growing and taxes have never been so high. I tend to believe that at the current level, it creates poverty. The only thing that taxes are helping right now are the individuals composing the states.
So true.
if the taxes are lowered for the rich then they should be for the poorer people as well… if i am asked to pay taxes for pensions and social security services, but then I am told that the schemes are crashed and it is doubtful if I receive my pension, or I should be working until I am 70, then why the hell am I paying all these taxes for? I am paying taxes for health services that I do not receive and I am asked to seek private insurance instead.. yet I am still paying taxes for the social security that I am supposed to be getting but in fact I am not… that is why I have little sympathy for the rich tax evaders.. at least they can escape.. I can not..!!
So basically you are jealous because they can flee this hell. The only difference between them and you is that they have the possibility to leave this shit and you cannot. You should have a look at the root of the problem instead of its consequences. What is the state? What are its missions? For example, why should it organize your pension? In my country it is on the verge of bankruptcy. There is no way the state will be able to provide my pension. Why? Because the boat has been overloaded by too many electoral promises. Pensions shouldn’t be part of its missions. Its missions should be helping those in needs when they have noone and nothing to help them. Including those too old to work and with no wealth.
States failed in their principal missions and took too much power in private life.
you call it jealousy.. i call it fairness.. why should i and many others from the working class should bear the taxes of those who evade it? why should i pay so that others can make profit on my back? as for the role of the state or if it should be providing pensions or social security… if the state decided that it does not want to provide me with my pension, then it should not be taxing me as much and give me more money.. if i have a higher salary, then i can seek out a private pension scheme…but even those are not safe.. private pension schemes can also go bust, and all your money that you paid all those years can just end up in the pockets of some devious folk.. so why should I trust private companies more than the state? i am all for privatization of everything BUT of the health, education and social security.. the health,welfare and education of your people is the best investment you can make as a statesman.. a healthy and educated population is an investment for the future as it is productive and it attracts investments… if you leave it for private companies to provide such basic rights to your people then your nation is dependent on the interests of these providers and only the rich can get the best treatments or education… not in my world!! education and health should be a state obligation!! they are a human right and should be available for all equally..
Profits on your back? Did they steal the money they earned? Well if it is a thief, then I fully agree he/she should be prosecuted. But what is a thief? Following google:
A person who steals another person’s property, esp. by stealth and without using force or violence. Did they steal that money? No. It has been given by other person in exchange of a service or a product. They didn’t steal that money. It is the fruit of their labor and not yours. You have no rights on it…And the State should stay as far as he can from it as well. Let me remind you, that I won’t have any pension from the state, or a ridiculous one. I’m sure of it and yet I give each month an insane amount of money for that. Why am I trapped in such a absurd situation? because the state has a monopoly on the pension. It is illegal to choose another service provider. Education in my country keeps going down as well and it is organized by the state. You don’t need private companies to make a mess out of it. The state is pretty good at it as well. Personnally I favor the Swedish model and the education vouchers. Parents receive vouchers for their kids and they can invest them in any private school of their wishes. A clever man once said that policies should be judged on their result rather than on their intentions. After almost 40 years of extreme social democracies, the result is quite poor indeed.
Sylvia, do you think that if you take the power from the state and give it to private hands, you will be freer? errrmmm.. no my dear! with companies merging and bought off by larger multinational ones, we will end up giving too much power to private owned multinational companies and then they will be the ones who will have too much power in our private life!! is that better? more of the same sounds to me.. in my opinion we need a state to control the private companies, and someone to control the state…. in my opinion such role should take multinational organizations like the EU, so that they can control the states, who will control the private companies…in other words we will be governed in a multiple layer, not just the national anymore..
they make money by exploiting people Olivier.. they lobby and promote laws that are bad for the workers, scraping every worker’s right that it has been won over decades.. do you want to go back to the early 1900 when children were allowed to work and be exploited and people were working all day for pennies, so that the rich could make profit, without any security for the workers? Are you serious? yes they steal my sweat, they steal my work by underpaying me, by employing illegal immigrants to do the job with 1/3 of the money that the law demands them to pay me, by refusing me my rights as a worker.. yes they are thieves… and when they tax evade, I have to pay more taxes to cover their share, so yes they steal from me again!! I am paying their share! it is my money, not theirs!! we agree on the Swedish model though!!
You basically says that private companies could end up like the european states and merging into a single one? :) Gloups scary indeed. The real benefits from a private service, it isn’t because it will be better…It is because you have an alternative. When something doesn’t work, you can change it. Some victims can be impacted. That’s why we need a state and its justice. When a state service doesn’t work, it will end up into a sismic problem dragging everybody into a nightmare
you do know that most large media corporations in the world, belong to about 6-7 larger groups, yes? companies like diageo own numerous products all over the world, they keep buying and they are active in many markets and types of products… so what seems so funny to you?
Christos, rules are needed but in a different way. Not able to debate right now.
what alternative can you have in pensions? once you get old and you suddenly find that the company that you had a contract with and paying your money all these years was bought off by another and went bust.. then you find out that your money do not worth anything anymore and you must agree into another pension scheme or receive nothing at all… where are the guarantees that you are going to get a pension?
Crony capitalism: the capitalism depending on lobby groups. Lobby groups only exists around powerful state. There is no reason to lobby anything in front of a state focusing only on its core missions (security and justice). large corporations are heavy user of lobbies. They tend (just like seed producers recently banning traditionall ones) to use the state to crush all competitions through rules, laws and red tapes, including those that could be able to overthrow them. The state did not erase poverty. At that time it was (again) on the side of the powerful. Trade unions (fighting for the rights of those inviduals at that time), economic growth, scientific discoveries changed our world, not the state. The state is still on the side of the powerful. they are simply different. What is organized by the state tend to remain frozen. For example: education. Computers are still alien object in most classroom. it is heavely based on object created in the XIXth century
i agree with that, that is why as i said i want to be governed by a multilayer government, that the state will be a part of it but do not have total control… in my opinion Europe should be governed in three levels, local, national and European.. i would like to see the local governments empowered and the European Parliament empowered at the expense of the “national” governments.. A Europe of regions that will have a 3-tier government that all will keep an eye on another… as for privatizations, as I said I am all for it, but education and health services… everybody should have the right to them, either they are rich or poor… if they are privatized, the rich will be getting better health services and education that the poor, and that will only perpetuate the inequality..
Christos it is my responsability to find my own pension scheme not the one from the politician. I claim my full freedom on that. How could it be worst than having the peanuts the state will give me? If a corporation ends up with such a poor result, I would prosecute it and I would win. Concerning the money not worth anything…What is inflation? Why do the state destroyed the gold standard? What is the value of the money? When an object gets more expensive…Does the value of the object increased…Or the value the banknotes you ve got in your hand decreased. We are getting closed to the source of all evil: the money, the finance and the way the states handle it.
Maybe Jefferson could be that bridge between your point of view and mine? Contrary to most libertarian (I’m :) ). I feel like the EU could be a part of the solution. Jefferson (one of the American funding fathers) has designed the American federation in such a way that all powers where balancing each other. Almost annihilating all their excesses. He was also a strong opponent of any central bank and strong supporter of freedom.
yes but could you win? are you sure? we are talking about a person against rich elite companies… it has happened before, but how often? and why should it come to that, you spending more money on trials to get what is rightfully yours? you paid for it all those years! no i do not trust private companies on issues like that… i prefer to have a safe pension..i am entitled to it, i worked for it.. i paid for it all those years..
When you mean I don’t trust private companies…Private companies have no reality. They are simply a group of people acting under the same flag. Invidivuals are the sole real objects. States, private companies, etc. are merely concept, simplification of the reality, irreal things. They are composed by the very same ingredient: human beings. The only difference between a state and a private company is the monopoly of violence. The state is the sole organization in our society having full right to initiate violence. The human beings composing it have the same qualities, the same dream, the same needs than those composing private companies. They’ve got however another weapon in their pocket. They don’t need to convice you to succeed in their plans, they can do it by forcing you to do things like giving them the fruit of your labor.
we agree on the above… though my influences are a bit different, Jefferson is a good example… Though for me not solely on an economic level..But mostly on political… The balancing of powers is the only solution I see between the state and the private sector, the nation state the local government and the multinational entity called the EU, so each party can control and keep each other in place… privatizations in spheres like telecommunications gave us great advantage in technological achievements.. but i am afraid when it comes to health i am reluctant to trust privately owned companies… it is not a matter to gamble with..
true… but private companies can also apply violence, though very different and more diplomatic that the state one.. all these “term and conditions apply” rules, that you really really must read and be careful of otherwise you sign for things that you do not really need is a form… and also all this aggressive marketing that convince people to buy things that they do not need is another form of brainwashing and violence to me… we live in a crazy world that GDP capita money and sales are far more important than human creativity, values, culture and well-being.. the state simply safeguards this status quo because as you said above it protects, serves and safeguards the interests of the rich..anyone who dissents is silenced and ridiculed, forced to the periphery…
Private companies try also to use force, that’s for sure…But this is why you need Justice…But a specific justice, the one based on “natural rights”, those rights forming together “la charte du citoyen et des droits de l’homme” (chart of the citizend and human rights) fruit of the French revolution and they are the basis as well of the US constitution. Natural rights are the rights inherent to your human conditions. You have full right to say anything you wish, you have full right to work, to have your own property, and so on. Those rights precedes any legislation. That kind of justice fully independant from any lobby groups is what we need. And I would welcome a state fully conservative on those issues, instead of having a state extremely conservative over education. This is one of its core mission and why it has been invented: Justice. Concerning Marketing, I don’t call it violence, sorry :). The state do not safeguard anything right now. I strongly disagree with that. We never had such a crasy world as you said…And yet the state has never been so bigger. So either it has no effect on the problem you notice…Or it is what I believe, it is part of the problem.
conservatism over education had many catholic (and non catholic) states..we see the results in the older generations in some countries… our education systems must be reformed to create modern humans, cosmopolitan individuals…. obviously you are a marketer..haha… because I many times feel i want to slap many of them right in the face with the things i have to put up with, trying to corner you and squeeze the money out of you in every chance.. i am not fit for an ultra capitalist society, i like few good things and that is that… our states are compromised, sold out to the global capitalist elites and their interests.. money rules… simples..
I work in the communication field, it helps to be not cornered easily ;). But anyway I’m one those very few supporting the idea that a free society is precisly what we lack of :). We are still a tiny minority, don’t worry…But we keep growing that’s for sure. :) . I will end with this : “Those who surrender freedom for security will not have, nor do they deserve, either one” (Benjamin Franklin).So if you expect trading a bit of your freedom for more security from the state…Careful you could loose both
i am all for a free society as long it it benefits all and not just the few… as long as i have guaranteed my basic human rights and i do not have to pay for them ten times over… and if free society means we are going to become like America then i am not so sure about it.. they are not perfect, they have failed dramatically in many things… perhaps if we could learn from their mistakes and create our own version of a free society, you will find me in your camp fighting your cause..!!
free society without free citizens and is a strange bird :)
so you free the citizens by making them pay for every single thing.. i am free to buy, i am free to keep buying, i am free to have a choice where to buy, i am free to keep consuming and in the end..am i really free?
Very easy: stop free movement of capital. Leave Central Banks to control again the export of capitals and charge the export of capitals to offshores with a due taxe. However, there are several offshores in Europe and some countries like Holland, Ireland and Luxembourg are almost offshores, stealing the due taxes to other countries.
This is a joke… globalisation is a joke… europe is a joke. The country who gave the world WWI, WWII and the Holocaust was able to destroy with their greed the #EU project alone using France once again as a puppet!
Have no idea.
NOTHING. JUST TAKE IT CITIZENS’ MONEYS. THATS ALL..
WHAT EU PROJECT ? IT IS AN UTOPIA.
Be more present in public life
Shut down.
Transparency in every sense would be nice.
More reason and less lobbyism.
Europe must became a real country, with its all real institution, a real European Parliament at first.
No, from a EU perspective it was just an insult to the common people and struggling nations.
Yes EU manufacturing would give EU member states a greater say in health and safety of goods produced, prevent the use of slave (or near slave) labour
The EU should implement laws that would allow tax evaders to have their funds repatriated by the nation state they refuse to pay taxes to and the offenders to be served a Europe wide punishment in a easy straight forward way ]
The products that are coming from “developing country” and are manufactured by the hands of kids, are from western interest companies. Furthermore if every European company will leave from continent, in the name of cheaper products, there will be no man left capable to consume. TAX PRODUCTS MADE IN THIRD WORLD! KEEP COMPANIES IN EUROPE WITH FINANCIAL MEASURES! FORCE WITH TAXES THOSE WHO LEFT, TO RETURN!
Put a stop to corporate lobbying and harmful subsidies that encourage bad and unsustainable business models. Truly engage citizens in policy making by putting in place participatory democracy alongside representative democracy. Limit election spending, sensationalist media, and immunity of political leaders. Favour evidence-based policy making, and learn to communicate effectively with citizens. Legislation to cap CEO salaries and bonuses, removal of corporate loopholes, and outrageous benefits to political players. .Fight for global minimum wage/labour costs, and encourage decentralisation of energy and food production. I will stop here, but the list could be much longer.
We also need a maximum wage.
I knew once a salesman selling stretch cloths. Those made in China were 30% cheaper than those made in Europe but after 3 washings didn’t stretch anymore. Those made in Europe could be washed up to 30 times before loosing slightly their elasticity.
Lawyers from Lawyers companies who help how to tax evasion (they call it fiscal planning) are the ones that many times are invited to political positions in the Finance Ministries.
To return to the question of the G8 and whether or not it was a success. It surely has to depend on whose point of view you are requesting.
The only way it could ever be a success to the people of Europe is if it creates the kind of change, we, the people and tax payers of that union, want to see. And as the USA and its cling on, UK, are not into the mind set of pleasing the customer, the tax paying peoples of their nations or Europe as a whole, then how can it ever be regarded as a success? The only success is the revelation to our leaders of the aims of those who see us all as aliens to be spied on to the exclusion of all else, that matters. And worst of all, it is they that are blinkered into not accepting or even acknowledging what they have done and are doing on our behalf. Maybe, at last, the world can grasp the size of insanity that is taking place as we watch passively doling out our cash by the bucket full so these individuals can indulge their whims.
First of all the US was there on a mission to sell its GM produce and chemicals at any cost to the population, which was obvious the minute it came to an end. It also wanted to fact find and use the opportunity to press for European unity on war games, by using either threats or bribes. It is now, at last, being revealed that this ‘superstate’ is run akin to the mafia or the Joker in comic terms and is solely out to dominate all those inside and outside its borders, regardless of whether those who are feeling the strain of them on their backs, want it or not . And they know the rest of the world has no desire to drop to the lowest level of ‘uncivilisation’ this regime embraces and continues to distribute in order to rob any assets that may be hidden in the closet.
The world is a changing place and the people who pay to maintain this charade are beginning to see the light. They no longer want to fit the bill for leadership extravagance and ill thought out policies, they are looking for their taxes to be spent on what they were told it would be used for. The betterment of their collective lives, as in good free education, exemplary health services free at the point of use, a calm and stable environment with excellent cultural aims and unity. Not a diet of war games, overpaid and inept leadership dancing to the tune of financial greed and Air Force Ones.
When Europe faces up to the reality of what has happened and how to get itself untangled from the mess that has been created and remains involved in, then, and only then, will G8 or any other G, have proved successful for its people.
Why would they? Their pockets get readily filled with money from their way too high salaries and luxury they appropriate themselves through their own EC legislation.
There is no alternative to a European project. Europe is our destiny – geographically, politically, culturally … The way of managing the European project is debatable, but not the project itself. It is an open process and as many members as possible is preferable.
They might have lost motivation. And without motivation from leaders, the project wil die.
The project started showing bad sides (or rather, those bad sides come from the members, unwilling to cooperate) in the crucial moment that is the crisis. If we won’t stand together now, then the whole project lost its meaning.
Unfortunately, I think they have. It’s imperative that we keep moving forward towards a solid and common project if we are to overcome this crisis.
not everything which is written on a bottle is as well in the bottle… The idea itself is brilliant.. what is coming out…is different… Who controls, who repairs that damages ..?
The idea is nice, but it has gone in the wrong direction. Brussels wants too much power and wants to set rules for things that should be ruled nationally. The eu should respect more diversity and let only those things be arranged by the eu that cannot be managed nationally. Further on the eu is spending way too much money in times like these. The idea of one europe as it lives in brussels only is alive in brussels, citizens dont believe this ideology.
No I do not believe in the eu project . Never have and never will
if Gaspar goes to EU, no.
Call me an idiot but I still am..!! Though without its citizens’ active participation it is doomed to fail or become a corporate technocratic oligarchy….
“We, the people” said someone :-)
We have to understand that only together we still are the most important area of the the world in all parameters. We, together only!
Today the problem is make the people to understand again the EU project failed in the hands of few little national leaders. Then is it the time to involve all citizens.
EU is bringing us: destruction of the economy through neoliberal measures –> poverty –> mass protests (as well as uprising of extremist parties/groups) –> a repressive surveillance system + militarisation to put revolts down… etc. when reading more than newspapers,you cant believe in this.
the idea is nice, the execution has so many flaws one can think whether the idea is really nice at all
they never thought about that
Van Rumpoy, you and your family eat GMO food ?
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Van Rompuy – A partner os US Gov. His friend Rockfeller pays to him, much millions to destri EU…
No, from a EU perspective it was just an insult to the common people and struggling nations.
Yes EU manufacturing would give EU member states a greater say in health and safety of goods produced, prevent the use of slave (or near slave) labour
The EU should implement laws that would allow tax evaders to have their funds repatriated by the nation state they refuse to pay taxes to and the offenders to be served a Europe wide punishment in a easy straight forward way ]