World news
EU tightens rules for placing coffee, palm oil, or beef on the market
The EU is preparing a regulation imposing stricter rules for making certain commodities and products available on the EU market and exporting them from the EU market. The new regulation shall apply, for instance, to coffee, soy, palm oil, cattle, or…
EU directive ensuring minimum taxation level enters into effect
The EU member states have finally agreed on the introduction of a minimum effective tax rate: the directive on ensuring a global minimum level of taxation for multinational groups and large national groups entered into effect on 23 December 2022. It…
DMA: feared by online platforms, bringing hope for users
Soon, the online world will undergo a radical transformation. As of 1 November 2022, the Digital Markets Regulation entered into force, which will mainly affect large companies doing business in the digital world – such as Apple, Google, or…
EU to increase state support for businesses hit by energy crisis
The European Commission has extended the Temporary Crisis Framework allowing direct subsidies or other forms of state aid for businesses affected by the energy crisis to mitigate the negative economic impact.
EC's landmark decision blocks merger of companies below turnover threshold
In a breakthrough decision, the European Commission has prohibited the merger of two US companies, Illumina and Grail, operating in the European biotechnology market. For the first time ever, the Commission did not allow a merger to proceed even…
Social security perspective on cross-border work from home and remote work
During the pandemic, to allow some sectors to operate without major restrictions, employees often had to work from home or remotely. Working from home (including cross-border) has thus become a common part of working life, even in ‘post-covid’ times…
Women on Boards: quotas to increase gender balance in corporations
After almost a decade of debate on the EU platform, a provisional political agreement has been reached on a proposal for a directive to promote a more balanced gender representation on corporate boards.
CJEU limits processing air passengers’ personal data
The beginning of the summer holidays was marked by the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) ruling concerning air travel, passengers' personal data, and prevention of terrorism. The CJEU primarily addressed the validity of the Passenger Name Record …
Draft DEBRA directive allows deducting notional interest on equity financing
The European Commission has published a proposal for a directive that should balance the tax disadvantages of equity financing compared to debt financing (debt-equity bias) by allowing taxpayers to deduct from the tax base notional interest on newly…
VAT system fit for digital age now within reach
The forthcoming reform of the VAT system is intended to improve the efficiency, fairness, and collection of tax and reduce VAT fraud. The European Commission is currently preparing concrete proposals on digital reporting, the application of VAT to…
One-stop-shop and VAT in the digital age
The Council of the EU and the European Commission are preparing further steps on VAT to simplify cross-border transactions and the import of goods into the EU for end consumers. The digitisation of VAT reports, electronic invoicing and harmonisation…
European Commission: progress in VAT system digitisation
In January this year, the European Commission launched a comment procedure to collect views on the digitisation of the VAT system in the member states, as it believes that the digitisation and automation in applying VAT across the EU will help…