Latest blog articles
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Breath in, breath out. Yes, the judgment of the (unlawfully composed) Polish Constitutional Tribunal is a serious challenge to the European Union’s legal system and to the principle of primacy of EU law. No, Poland has not activated the process of withdrawal from the EU under Article 50 TEU. Yes, EU...
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After the initial relief that followed upon reaching a Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the European Union and the United Kingdom on Christmas Eve, we slowly see how this treaty is going to affect the tax domain. In this blog I will briefly focus on the area of fiscal state aid, i.e. the...
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In the aftermath of the surge in COVID-19 related government support to businesses and just days after UK Brexit negotiators announced not to extend the deadline for the ongoing negotiations with the European Union, the European Commission launched its “White Paper on levelling the playing field as...
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Creativity needed more than ever in the creative industry
The Corona-crisis and the lockdown hits severely, and particularly the cultural and creative industries. Already a traditionally precarious industry not having deep pockets, COVID‑19 knocks out most core activities of the sector. Concerts... -
During my lunch break or in the evening, it is a pleasure to take a walk and visit the border crossing, because I want to know how our southern neighbours have cordoned off the border. The Dutch-Belgian border is about 300 meters away from me. Only recently I realised that my father once guarded...
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This blog is only available in Dutch.
Als je woont of werkt in een grensregio zijn daar zowel voor- als nadelen aan verbonden. Laat ik met het belangrijkste nadeel beginnen: Voor landelijke gebeurtenissen ben je een eind weg van daar waar het meest gebeurt. Dat zijn de grote Randsteden: als je pech...
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In a little more than one week we saw a series of judgements and a European Commission decision that may again test the limits of the European Union's state aid system in its application to matters of direct taxation.
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There is wide agreement that the EU has not been effective in dealing with what I would define here as values’ awkwardness, cases in which EU Member States threaten the rule of law and the other common values of the European project. The obvious reference is in this respect to Hungary and Poland...
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After the recent adoption of controversial measures affecting the independence of the judiciary, the Commission has decided for the first time in history to activate Article 7(1) TEU against Poland. This groundbreaking decision opens a wholly new phase in the Polish crisis and has a broader impact...
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The coalition agreement of Rutte-III proposed to abolish the dividend tax, but not completely... It states that this Tax will be maintained in situations of abuse, in order to prevent tax evasion. (Dutch only)