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France rejects a U.S. proposal this week that would let companies opt out of a proposed international tax reform, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Friday, urging Washington to negotiate in good faith. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin raised serious questions about OECD international tax reform proposals in a letter made public on Wednesday, jarring international officials by floating the idea of a "safe harbor regime". Le Maire said that would mean U.S. companies could opt in or out as they pleased, which he said would be unacceptable to France and other OECD countries. He urged Washington therefore to...

It sounded like a historical moment was in the offing. For the first time, Europe’s finance ministers were seriously planning on publicly denouncing tax havens by presenting a black list of countries that lure companies through tax-saving schemes. French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said the countries on the list were “not doing enough to fight tax evasion.” Fellow Frenchman Pierre Moscovici, the European Union’s commissioner for economic and monetary affairs, called for vigorous sanctions. […] That was one and a half years ago, and that momentum has largely disappeared. This is partly because the black list had several fundamental...

VIOLENT protests by furious yellow vest demonstrators raging at French President Emmanuel Macron have been a “catastrophe” for the nation’s economy, France’s finance minister has complained Bruno Le Maire said France’s economy will be seriously affected by the protests against Mr Macron’s fuel reforms, which saw cars gutted after being set on fire, landmarks such as the Arc de Triomphe graffitied and three people killed.

France’s Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire has called for Europe to become an “empire” to compete with the United States after the country’s President Emmanuel Macron called for an EU army to defend against the NATO ally. “It’s about Europe having to become a kind of empire, as China is. And how the U.S. is,” Mr Le Maire told Germany’s Handelsblatt. Adding that it would be a “peaceful empire,” the economics and finance minister touted the progressive government’s green credentials, saying that the European empire should “rel[y] on green growth. Neither China nor the U.S., who are leaving the Paris...

France’s Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire has called for Europe to become an “empire” to compete with the United States after the country’s President Emmanuel Macron called for an EU army to defend against the NATO ally.

"Italy's insurgents defiant as bond spreads surge and EU threats build" Headline from "The Telegraph" in London May 21, 2018 "They have nothing to worry about. The government that we want to form wants to make Italy grow and create jobs, to bring companies to Italy that invest, to make work more stable" League leader Matteo Salvini as quoted by the Associated Press May 21, 2018 The two political parties who combined achieved 50 percent of the popular vote and solid majority of seats in Italy'a two houses of parliament (Five Star and League) have told the President of Italy...

Europe could end up rueing a potential new deal between China and the United States after the two sides stepped back from a trade war, France’s Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire warned on Sunday. “The United States and China risk entering an agreement at the expense of Europe if Europe is not capable of showing a firm hand,” Le Maire told CNEWS television. “The United States wants to make Europe and European countries pay for China’s bad behavior. All of that is totally absurd and incomprehensible for allies,” he said. His comments came after a joint statement issued in Washington...

French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire says it's "unacceptable" that Google and Apple unilaterally impose prices and other contractual terms on software developers, and that this is hurting France's startups. Le Maire predicted the tech giants could face sanctions amounting to millions of euros, according to AFP. It’s not the first time the French government clashes with Google. It has repeatedly criticised the company for paying little tax in France by transferring its revenues to a subsidiary in Ireland, where taxes are much lower. Wednesday's move comes amid growing fears of an international trade war pitting the United States against...