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All-clear for Swedish job-creation aid
- The European Commission on Tuesday (11 December) approved a Swedish state aid scheme involving the reduction of social security contributions for small- and medium-sized enterprises in certain service sectors. The scheme, which aims to boost employment, cuts labour costs by reducing employers’ social security contributions from 32% to 10%.
Commission calls for taxation co-operation
- The Commission called on member states to improve co-ordination of their anti-abuse rules in the area of direct taxation, which prevent companies from evading taxes by diverting their income to other countries. Governments have to review their rules against relevant EU case law. In one such case last year, the European Court of Justice ruled that a UK law attributing profits earned by subsidiary countries in second EU countries to parent companies resident in the UK was unlawful.
Commercial practices law enters into force
- EU rules on misleading advertising and aggressive sales practices came into force yesterday (12 December) under the unfair commercial practices directive. The rules give consumers the same protection on and off line, at home and abroad. The directive includes a black list which bans fake ‘free’ offers and ‘pester power’ advertising.
State aid number-crunching
- The Commission yesterday agreed new ways for setting reference and discount rates used in the analysis of state aid cases. The decision will affect the way the grant equivalent of aid and the aid element resulting from interest subsidy schemes are calculated from July 2008.
MEPs back customs link-up
- The Parliament yesterday approved a Commission proposal to connect the electronic customs systems in member states from 2011. The proposal involves a common electronic portal containing information on customs transactions in each member state. Member states have also supported the move which the Commission says will increase competitiveness of EU trade while helping to prevent crime.
Charlie McCreevy, the European commissioner for the internal market, will next week opt for a light regulatory approach to responsible lending for Europe’s fast-growing mortgage market. His approach seems uninfluenced by the ongoing sub-prime mortgage crisis in the US.
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