Even for those whose interest in, and knowledge of, European politics is limited, the identity of the Prime Minister of Luxembourg recently became rather better known after a recent intervention in the Brexit debate.
Xavier Bettel is here in Athens, and was one of the speakers at the opening of the Congress. Here’s what he had to say…
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7 Comments
I thought Xavier Bettel gave Boris Johnson what he deserved in Luxembourg, so was disappointed when Bettel said he regretted the UK’s departure from the EU. Full marks to Irina Von Wiese MEP for heckling “We’re not leaving!”
A very Inspiring speech by Bettel P.M of Luxembourg which is apparently undergoing a quiet Liberal revolution. With free public transport, the ending of restrictions on abortions, equality in marriages, the separation of Church and State and the legalisation of Marijuana.
Bettle is a very entertaining speaker and made reference to the small size of the country, half of which was gambled away by a previous Duke. As a tall narrow shaped country, you can drive through the width of it from Belgium to Germany in 15 minutes. I don’t think the Nazi invasion took a lot longer.
Bettel might only be PM of a small country but he made a big impression over the empty chairing and goading of Boris Johnson and as he outlined with 94% public support for the EU, inside the organisation, Luxemburg is infinitely stronger
It is a bit twisted to hold the Luxembourg government up as something to be admired. Luxembourg has gotten richer by beggar thy neighbour tax policies, hence the number of multi-nationals that are ‘based’ there.
Mark, a friend of mine pays taxes in Luxembourg as a working head of a small business and it is a myth that the taxes are that low. They have gone up and the cost of living is a lot higher than in nearby Germany. Please don’t perpetuate vague myths
@john Presumably that’s why any search about tax+Luxembourg brings up so many Tax haven posts, and why anyone making on-line purchases will have noticed a distinct tendency for the payments being made to Luxembourg ‘based’ companies. Please don’t peddle vague posts in the hope of covering up the true nature of this aspect of the EU project.
Mark, Luxembourg and it’s own tax policy is not “the EU project”. The EU have little or no influence on Luxembourg tax rates and my small business is paying less taxes here than my friend does on his small business there.
Ireland has a low Corporation Tax rate. The EU is irrelevant.
IoMan is lower on 10% tax on Finance and 0% on everything else. They are not in the EU !!
Mark, the EU is bringing in the revised Savings Directive and Transparency Directive on 1st Jan, which will allow all tax authorities to challenge tax avoidance schemes all over Europe and challenge money laundering. It should result in more revenues ending up in national government coffers and less hot money in circulation.