Sweden vows to recognise state of Palestine
Sweden may become the first member of the European Union to recognise the state of Palestine, after the Nordic country #39;s new centre-left government has said it will do so. "The conflict between...
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Sweden vows to recognise state of Palestine - Video
Tax and VAT issues when trading with countries outside the European Union
Tax and VAT issues when trading with countries outside the European Union - If you export goods to countries outside the EU (known as #39;third countries #39;), you must have the appropriate licences...
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Tax and VAT issues when trading with countries outside the European Union - Video
MOSCOW, September 12 (RIA Novosti), Anastasia Levchenko - As the European Union has imposed a new round of sanctions against Russia over Ukraine, first analyses on the future repercussions appear in the Western media with some praising Europe's US-backed decision and others cautioning against the negative effects of sanctions to western economies, and underlining Russia's re-orientation to the East and Ukraine's to the West.
CONCERTED WESTERN EFFORT
The Guardian reported on Friday that "the latest sanctions are designed to keep up pressure on Russia, which denies sending troops into eastern Ukraine and arming the separatists. Moreover, the US is understood to be planning to limit access to Russian banks, including Sberbank, later on Friday as part of a concerted western effort to penalize what it sees as Russian attempts to destabilize Ukraine by backing pro-Russia separatists with troops and weapons."
The joint European position fully corresponds to American line of reasoning. ABC News cites Martin Schulz, European Parliament President, as saying at a conference in Kiev on Friday that the new round of sanctions was a sign to Moscow that there will be "no return to business as usual." In response to that, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko thanked EU countries for "their solidarity with Ukraine".
President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy stated that The Permanent Representatives Committee or Coreper will assess the implementation of the peace plan in Ukraine by the end of the month. Sanctions could be amended, suspended or repealed in whole or in part depending on the conclusions of this assessment, according to the Prague Post.
"The new EU sanctions introduced today certainly take things to a tougher level," CNN quotes Sunny Mann, a partner at law firm Baker & McKenzie, as saying. "At the same time, there is a signal that the EU is prepared to roll things back if the current crisis is de-escalated."
The New York Times reports Poroshenko as saying it would be "impolite" for the European Union not to take the next step, known as "accession partnership" and designed to steer toward membership. Ukraine is expected to ratify an association agreement with the European Union next Tuesday.
STEP TO THE WEST, STEP TO THE EAST
ABC News underlines how Ukraine welcomes the new sanctions and even expresses gratitude and thus cites Poroshenko thanking EU countries for "their solidarity with Ukraine".
AFP emphasizes that "Ukraine looks West" and makes steps to "cement" Kiev's ties with the European Union and Washington.
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Western Media on Anti-Russia Sanctions: Nobody Stands to Win in This Tit-for-Tat Battle
European Union lawmakers will quiz Jonathan Hill for a second time tomorrow after they said the U.K.s nominee to be the blocs next financial-services chief failed to satisfy them in an initial hearing last week.
The extra grilling will take place in Brussels at 1 p.m. tomorrow, a European Parliament official told reporters. The session is scheduled to last 90 minutes.
Hill, put forward by Prime Minister David Camerons government, failed to secure instant backing from the Parliaments Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee after a three-hour hearing on Oct. 1, in which he was queried on subjects from too-big-to-fail banks to Britains relationship with the EU.
Lord Hill owes the Parliament explanations on many issues, Sven Giegold, a German lawmaker in the assemblys Green group, said on his personal website. He could or did not want to explain his plans for our financial system.
In answers to a further set of 23 written questions that lawmakers sent on Oct. 2, Hill addressed matters including securitization and virtual currencies, according to a document obtained by Bloomberg News.
The case for high-quality securitization seems strong and one of his first priorities in the financial-services role would be to assess its potential impact, Hill said in the document.
The intention is not to undo what has been put in place by the recent financial reforms in Europe, Hill said. The door should remain closed to complex, opaque and risky instruments such as subprime instruments.
Hill said he would keep under close scrutiny the developments of virtual currencies such as bitcoin, holding out the possibility that they be subject to the EUs anti-money laundering rules. He also said he would consider further measures to shore up the European banking sector, and said all benchmarks should be covered by future EU legislation.
The EU Parliament can veto the team proposed by Jean-Claude Juncker, a former prime minister of Luxembourg who is set to lead the next commission. The assembly has a track record of using a veto threat to weed out nominees it doesnt like.
In addition to Hill, the Parliament has delayed approval for Pierre Moscovici, the former French finance minister who is slated to become the EUs next economy chief; Miguel Arias Canete, nominated by Spain as the EUs climate and energy commissioner; Vera Jourova, a Czech whom Juncker wants to take over the commission post overseeing justice, consumer affairs and gender equality; and Tibor Navracsics, a Hungarian slated for the education and culture role.
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U.K.s Hill to Go Second Round With EU Lawmakers Tuesday
The Federal Government has urged the European Union to invest inthe proposed Wholesale Development Bank through the unions development financing outfit, the European Development Bank.
A statement from the Finance Ministry on Sunday quoted the Minister of State for Finance, Amb. Bashir Yuguda, to have made the plea while receiving a delegation of the European Union led by the EU Ambassador to Nigeria, Michel Arrion.
Yuguda who also revealed that the bid has raised significant interest among global funding agencies explained that the World Bank had pledged $500m while other development oriented financial institutions like the AfricanDevelopment Bank have also committed some funds for the take off of the bank.
The minister explained that the aim of setting up the bank was to boost the growth of the real sector by ensuring long term financing and drastically cutting down interest rate.
The Federal Government, he added, would soon be embarking on a road-show to some specific countries to raise more capital for the bank
He said: We are developing a whole sale development bank inNigeria. The idea of the bank is to give long term financing to SMEsand increase their source of borrowing.
We did a study of the informal sector which showed that the sector constituted 45 per cent of our Gross Domestic Product.
We have a firm believe that if we are able to increase their access tofunds especially long term, that will go a long way in increasing theGDP of this country and integrating them into the formal sector of theeconomy.
The EU envoy had earlier hinted that EIB is already well establishedin Cote dIvoire and Senegal as a development financier would like to boost their activities in Nigeria by funding long term projects.
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FG urges EU to invest in proposed development bank