EUROPEAN HEADLINES
FT Europe – Foreign groups furious over White House tax crackdown. Move targets Pfizer-Allergan deal. Obama steps up “inversions” battle.
WSJE – Tax haven whack-a-mole. Efforts to crack down on traditional spots lead users to return to more exotic locations.
INYT (IHT) – When Bin Laden became an investor. Betting on a boom, head of Qaeda wanted to buy gold with ransom money.
BBC Europe – EU to review asylum options -The European Commission is due to unveil options for reforms to the way EU countries handle asylum claims in response to the migrant crisis. The move is in part a reaction to the difficulties faced by Greece and Italy in coping with large numbers arriving from the Middle East and Africa. The current EU system is widely thought to have failed because of the influx of a million people through Greece.
BALTIC STATES
Baltic Times – Iraqi refugee’s family appeal rejected by Vilnius court. The Vilnius Administrative Court reject a case from an Iraqi refugee family who were relocated to the Lithuanian capital under the European Union’s refugee relocation programme in December 2015. The family appealed against the Lithuanian Migration Department’s decision to grant them temporary legal protection instead of the refugee status they wanted.
FRANCE
Le Monde – The offshore accounts of Marine le Pen’s close ones. A financial circuit was created in 2012 from Panama to Singapore.
Les Echos – Real estate: rates fall to a historic all-time low. Average rate for housing credit below 2%, a first since the 1940s. Old real-estate’s prices increase, after a four-year period of decline.
GERMANY
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung – Repatriation of refugees in Turkey makes no progress. Thousands of asylum applications in Greece. Federal Police: smugglers are getting active again.
Sueddeutsche Zeitung – Letterbox companies help Assad’s war. The Panama Papers Show: Mossack Fonseca helped henchmen of Syrian President to circumvent sanctions. Even FIFA President Infantino was involved in dubious dealings.
IRELAND
Irish Times – Panama Papers firm linked to legal fight over Quinn property. A British Virgin Islands company that contested Irish Bank Resolution Corporation’s attempt to seize a €70 million shopping mall in Kiev from businessman Seán Quinn’s family was set up by the legal firm Mossack Fonseca (MF), the Panama Papers show. The State-owned bank, in proceedings pending in the Irish courts, is alleging the company was part of a conspiracy orchestrated by the Quinn family.
ITALY
La Repubblica – Regeni: Italia issues an ultimatum to Egypt. Cairo: all is ruined. Gentiloni: we need a turning point, don’t flout our dignity. The anonymous man’s mystery: here is the man who killed Giulio.
Il Sole 24 Ore – Markets find refuge in bonds: black day for banks. Markets are nervous, with Piazza Affari down 3%. Price of oil and slow recovery are exacerbating the situation.
NETHERLANDS
NoS – The Netherlands goes to the polls on Wednesday to take part in a referendum on whether or not the cabinet should support the EU’s treaty of association with Ukraine. Polling stations across the country are open from 7.30 to 21.00 hours. The result is advisory and only has legal weight if more than 30% of the electorate vote. Ministers have so far refused to say what they will do if a majority vote ‘no’, as opinion polls indicate. A poll for website Nu.nl on the eve of the vote indicated 55% of those who say they are likely to vote will vote ‘no’, 33% will vote ‘yes’ and the rest are undecided.
POLAND
Gazeta Wyborcza – Government or courts. Today the Constitutional Tribunal grants its first ruling since invalidation of the “amendment act” a month ago. The Government announced it would boycott it. Whether the ruling is enforced will depend on the Supreme Administrative Court (NSA) – its decision will make a precedent for further cases.
SPAIN
El País – The Spanish government controls the regions’ payments. Montoro sanctions Extremadura and Aragon following an increase of their deficits.
UK
The Times – Criminals in secret deals over British properties. World leaders, criminals and billionaire sheikhs have secretly poured hundreds of millions of pounds into London properties, leaked offshore data reveals.
The Guardian – Cameron feels the heat over links to father’s offshore fund. David Cameron was left dangerously exposed last night after repeatedly failing to provide a clear and full account about links to an offshore fund set up by his father.
©europeanunion2016
