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Seismic Anamoly · Joined: 22 Aug 2002 Posts: 3039

Appears Germany and France are jumping on the Bandwagon with the United States by formally petitioning for membership in The "Let's Sell Sophisticated Cutting Edge Weaponry And Technology To Human-Rights Ignoring, Democracy Destroying, Totalitarian Dictatorships" Club....

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Wen Jiabao had a clear objective when he set out for the EU headquarters on Wednesday......the Chinese premier is aiming for a larger pledge of partnership from the European Union.

Top on his list of goals is the removal of a weapons embargo imposed by the EU in 1989 after the Tiananmen Square massacre. Last December EU leaders had agreed to review the ban [/b]after pressure was applied by France and Germany,[/b] who claim the sanctions had outlived their usefulness. Both countries are EAGER to sell sophisticated weapons to China's large and big-spending military, and analysts say China is KEEN to gain access to cutting-edge European technology.

....a number of smaller EU countries, headed by the Netherlands and Scandinavian members, argue that Beijing needs to do more to safeguard human rights.

On Monday, however, Wen's campaign received new impetus from German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder who spoke out in favor of removing the restrictions and pledged to push Brussels to drop the ban.

Amnesty International stated that it had "cautioned the EU to consider what message it will be sending to human rights activists in China, who are still being imprisoned 15 years after Tiananmen Square, if it lifts the EU arms embargo against China."

ARTICLE

Welcome Aboard!! Let the Yuan Renminbi come Rolling In....

Edited by: Seismic Anamoly at: 5/5/04 11:06 pm

Seismic Anamoly · Joined: 22 Aug 2002 Posts: 3039

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4/30/2003 (Killing Time) -

It was announced today US troops would be pulled out of Germany soon. This news is no surprise due to reports that all non-essential German base expenditures were halted by the Pentagon earlier this year.

The plans and details of the troop redeployment have not been announced. However, the first military facilities to be closed are reported to be in Giessen, Friedberg, Butzbach, Wetzlar and Bad Nauheim.

The base closures will be a bombshell to the German economy in those cities that rely on trade with the US military. The U.S. military currently spends around five billion dollars a year in German business trade and is responsible for the employment of tens of thousands of Germans.

The most likely redeployment plans for US troops based in Germany will probably be moving them to new pro-American Nato allies of eastern Europe and former Soviet Bloc countries like Uzbekistan. The center of gravity will shift to Polish, Hungarian, Bulgarian, and Romanian regions.

www.hk94.com/weblog/?p=95

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Germany, France Demand Higher Taxes in East, Creating EU Rift

May 14 (Bloomberg) -- Two weeks after celebrating European unity, Germany and France are triggering an economic split by badgering Eastern European countries such as Slovakia and Poland to raise corporate taxes or make do with less western aid.

Under the banner of ``fair tax competition,'' German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and French President Jacques Chirac yesterday opened an offensive against corporate tax rates about half the level of their own countries' -- such as Slovakia and Poland's 19 percent and Latvia's 15 percent.

The leaders of the European Union's founding duo are pairing their call for tax conformity with a threat to trim financial aid for the EU's 10 new countries, inflaming a conflict over how to perk up the European economy after it lagged the U.S. for 11 of the past 12 years.

``If I were German chancellor, I would want to see how to cut spending so as to be able to cut taxes,'' Dariusz Filar, a board member of Poland's central bank, said in an interview in Warsaw. A common EU tax code wouldn't be ``fruitful,'' he said.

The battle over taxation is becoming a defining feature of the enlarged 25-nation EU, as Western European welfare states such as Germany, with corporate taxes that PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP puts between 33 percent and 40 percent, and France, with rates around 34 percent, try to prevent jobs from migrating to cheaper locations on their doorstep.

quote.bloomberg.com/apps/...0Rekb_Prqs

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Giving Till It Hurts

Germany's complex tax system has long been a bone of contention for individuals and businesses alike. The latest proposal to reintroduce the wealth tax has ignited a storm of protest.

If it weren't for the "Tax Song," Germans would have nothing to smile about at all in these days of economic doom and gloom. The brilliant parody of the "Ketchup Song" which targets Chancellor Gerhard Schröder's tax policies is probably the least of his worries at the moment.

With the country already straining under one of Europe's highest tax burdens -- counting all direct and indirect taxes and levies it stands at 56 percent on national income -- Social Democratic-led states are proposing the introduction of yet another tax.

www.dw-world.de/english/0..._A,00.html

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Saturday May 1, 2004

The Guardian -

In December, the massive German electrical engineering firm, Siemens,

announced its intention to move 10,000 jobs to eastern Europe over the next few years.

money.guardian.co.uk/movi...96,00.html

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Massive Budget Hole Hits Government Hard

The tax revenue shortfall is €10 billion more than expected

A panel of fiscal experts on Thursday delivered the bad news everyone expected: Over the next three years, Germany will see tax shortfalls of €61 billion ($72 billion), posing huge problems domestically and for Europe.

Three years of stagnation was the main culprit behind the massive tax revenue shortfalls, according to the 31-member panel. Though the Federal Statistics Office on Thursday released a preliminary report showing the German economy had grown modestly by 0.4 percent in the first quarter of 2004, the lost tax revenue this year alone will amount to close to €10 billion ($11.8 billion).

www.dw-world.de/english/0..._A,00.html

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Siemens to move production to Hungary

Reports in a German newspaper that Siemens is planning to cut 2,000 jobs at its plants in Bocholt and Kamp-Lintfort, partly because of a planned relocation of production to Hungary, have been confirmed by a spokesman for the union IG Metall.

Siemens spokesman Peter Gottal said that the "uncompetitive local cost structure would require moving 2,000 jobs abroad," and said that negotiations with employees' representatives are underway.

www.templetonthorp.com/en/news561

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Infineon to Leave Germany?

High Taxes is the Reason

by Anton Shilov

03/14/2003 | 12:06 PM

According to various reports over the Web, Infineon is considering opportunities to relocate its corporate headquarters from Germany to other countries due to very high taxes. The most-likely country to establish the new headquarters is Switzerland, though, the company also considering South East Asia and the USA.

www.xbitlabs.com/news/mem...20612.html

:bigeyes

MY GOD!!

Better hire some Salesmen - Fast!!!! :aua

Peace!!!