A history of the tax package: The principles and issues underlying the community approach.

This article presents an overview of the EU Tax Package, comprising the Code of Conduct for business taxation, the Directive on taxation of savings income and the Directive on taxation of interest and royalty payments. Its main objective is to offer a comprehensive view of the negotiation process, and a broad overview of the content of the package, as well as pending policy issues. This then allows drawing a number of lessons concerning the approach followed and the outlook for future European initiatives on direct taxation.European Union, EU tax policy, EU tax package, savings directive, code of conduct for business taxation, Taxation Policy

Tax-based EU own resources: an assessment

The ongoing intergovernmental conference (IGC) and the preparation of the "Financial Perspectives post-2006" i.e. the next multi-annual financial framework of the European Union, have led to new discussions on the issue of EU own taxes. As this issue is also likely to emerge regularly in future debates, it is useful to present a structured analysis of some of the pros and cons of giving taxing powers to the Union. Such an analysis has already been made in the past, notably in Agenda 2000, which presented the European Commission's position concerning the EU financial framework for the period 2000-2006. Several possibilities for a "genuine" or tax-based own resource (?EU tax?) were presented and assessed in Agenda 2000. However, that analysis requires revision and updating to take account of the considerable evolution of EU objectives and policies in recent years and to include an assessment of new possibilities, such as, for instance, a climate charge on aviation emissions. Eight criteria are applied to nine main candidates for EU taxation and comparisons are made with regard to these criteria. One of the main conclusions that can be drawn from this multi-criteria analysis is that there is no such thing as a perfect tax for the EU. All the main candidates that have been suggested for EU taxes have some pros and some cons. The inability of proposed EU taxes to meet fully certain criteria should not lead to the conclusion that these taxes should be dismissed, as has sometimes been argued in the past. On the contrary, the analysis presented here highlights the fact that the choice between one or several EU taxes would critically depend on a political choice as to which criteria should be considered essential and which secondary. Furthermore, an assessment of a tax as a possible candidate should ultimately have regard to its impact on the functioning of the overall financing system of the EU.European Union, taxation, budget, own resources, VAT, CIT

European Tax Survey

In order to have a better understanding of the impact of taxation on companies' decisions and activities, and potential costs that may arise from the lack of coordination in this area at EU level, the European Commission's Taxation and Customs Union Directorate-General launched a European Tax Survey. Seven hundred companies active in the EU participated in the Survey providing information on a large number of tax compliance related issues. Company responses included quantitative estimates of their compliance costs and opinions on a number of issues related to tax systemsEuropean Union, Taxation, Compliance costs

Work-life balance policies as a multi-level, multi-stakeholder policy challenge : the case of Territorial Networks for Conciliation in Lombardy

Work-life balance policies represent an interesting case in the perspective of \u2018second welfare\u2019, which imply the participation of a number of non-public actors for the co-production of welfare. Compared to European figures, Italian women display high levels of inactivity, hiking after the birth of the first child, unbalanced care responsibilities with respect to men, inadequate childcare support and work arrangements. However, thanks to a number of stimuli from the EU, in the last decade work-life balance policies have gained some salience within the domestic political debate. In particular, at the sub-national level we have observed a proliferation of initiatives. Building on this framework, the research investigates the co-production of reconciliation policies in a multidimensional, multilevel, and multi-stakeholder perspective, by shedding light on innovative dynamics. In this respect, the Lombardy Region represents an intriguing case. In 2011, with the Regional White Paper on reconciling work and family, the territory was divided into 13 areas, and each one is now experimenting a network for the governance at the local level of work-life balance policies named Territorial Network for Conciliation, TNC - participated by public institutions, trade unions and employers representatives, as well as private companies, cooperatives and the Third sector - in charge of monitoring the needs of each territory, coordinating efforts, setting up new and innovative conciliation services

Overheidsfinanciën, financiering en fiscaliteit in Brussel

Vaststellingen Ontvangsten, uitgaven, saldi en schuldenlast Snelgroeiende gewestelijke uitgaven Janssens et al. (2008) hebben de evolutie van de uitgaven van het Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest (BHG) sinds 2001 bestudeerd. Uit hun onderzoek blijkt dat de uitgaven in een zeer hoog tempo zijn toegenomen. In de periode 20012008 bedroeg de gemiddelde reële groei 4,4% op jaarbasis. De toename van de primaire uitgaven is nog meer uitgesproken: een reële groei van gemiddeld 4,8% per jaar. De grootste..

A prospective, observational study of fidaxomicin use for Clostridioides difficile infection in France.

To describe the characteristics, management and outcomes of hospitalised patients with Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) treated with and without fidaxomicin. This prospective, multicentre, observational study (DAFNE) enrolled hospitalised patients with CDI, including 294 patients treated with fidaxomicin (outcomes recorded over a 3-month period) and 150 patients treated with other CDI therapies during three 1-month periods. The primary endpoint was baseline and CDI characteristics of fidaxomicin-treated patients. At baseline, the fidaxomicin-treated population included immunocompromised patients (39.1%) and patients with severe (59.2%) and recurrent (36.4%) CDI. Fidaxomicin was associated with a high rate of clinical cure (92.2%) and low CDI recurrence (16.3% within 3 months). Clinical cure rates were ≥90% in patients aged ≥65 years, those receiving concomitant antibiotics and those with prior or severe CDI. There were 121/296 (40.9%) patients with adverse events (AEs), 5.4% with fidaxomicin-related AEs and 1.0% with serious fidaxomicin-related AEs. No fidaxomicin-related deaths were reported. Fidaxomicin is an effective and well-tolerated CDI treatment in a real-world setting in France, which included patients at high risk of adverse outcomes.Trial registration: Description of the use of fidaxomicin in hospitalised patients with documented Clostridium difficile infection and the management of these patients (DAFNE), NCT02214771, www.ClinicalTrials.gov

Efflux Pump, the Masked Side of ß-Lactam Resistance in Klebsiella pneumoniae Clinical Isolates

International audienceBACKGROUND: Beta-lactamase production and porin decrease are the well-recognized mechanisms of acquired beta-lactam resistance in Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates. However, such mechanisms proved to be absent in K. pneumoniae isolates that are non susceptible to cefoxitin (FOX) and susceptible to amoxicillin+clavulanic acid in our hospital. Assessing the role of efflux pumps in this beta-lactam phenotype was the aim of this study. METHODOLOGY/FINDINGS: MICs of 9 beta-lactams, including cloxacillin (CLX), and other antibiotic families were tested alone and with an efflux pump inhibitor (EPI), then with both CLX (subinhibitory concentrations) and EPI against 11 unique bacteremia K. pneumoniae isolates displaying the unusual phenotype, and 2 ATCC strains. CLX and EPI-dose dependent effects were studied on 4 representatives strains. CLX MICs significantly decreased when tested with EPI. A similar phenomenon was observed with piperacillin+tazobactam whereas MICs of the other beta-lactams significantly decreased only in the presence of both EPI and CLX. Thus, FOX MICs decreased 128 fold in the K. pneumoniae isolates but also 16 fold in ATCC strain. Restoration of FOX activity was CLX dose-dependent suggesting a competitive relationship between CLX and the other beta-lactams with regard to their efflux. For chloramphenicol, erythromycin and nalidixic acid whose resistance was also due to efflux, adding CLX to EPI did not increase their activity suggesting differences between the efflux process of these molecules and that of beta-lactams. CONCLUSION: This is the first study demonstrating that efflux mechanism plays a key role in the beta-lactam susceptibility of clinical isolates of K. pneumoniae. Such data clearly evidence that the involvement of efflux pumps in beta-lactam resistance is specially underestimated in clinical isolates

Autonomy, financial solidarity and cooperation in federal states

Doctorat - UC

Debt-sharing and Secession: A Generational Accounting Approach

Cattoir P. and Docquier F. (2004) Debt-sharing and secession: a generational accounting approach, Reg. Studies38, 293-303. This paper investigates one of the most important financial issues arising from a secession or a country partitioning namely the sharing of the national public debt. Extending Dreze's distributive neutrality condition, we use the generational accounting technique and propose a dynamic debt-sharing criterion which takes into account both the true debt future generations inherit and their contributive capacity. The equivalence with Dreze's static rule is only obtained on the balanced growth path, and in the absence of initial regional debt. An application of our criterion to the Belgian case offers striking results. Cattoir P. et Docquier F. (2004) Secession et partage de la dette publique: une approche par la comptabilite generationnelle, Reg. Studies38, 293-303. Ce papier analyse l'une des principales questions budgetaire posee en cas de secession ou de partage d'un Etat en plusieurs entites politiquement independantes, i.e. le partage de la dette publique nationale entre les regions. Partant de la condition de neutralite distributive proposee par Dreze, on developpe une extension dynamique de ce critere fondee sur la comptabilite generationnelle. Notre regle de partage prend en consideration la dette generationnelle leguee aux cohortes futures ainsi que leur capacite contributive attendue. L'equivalence avec la regle de Dreze n' est obtenue qu'en regime de croissance stable et en l'absence d' un endettement regional prealable a la scission. Une application de notre critere au cas de la Belgique offre des resultats interessants. Cattoir P. und Docquier F. (2004) Schuldenbeteiligung und Sezession: ein Generationen uberspannender Ansatz einer Bilanzbuchhaltung, Reg. Studies38, 293-303. Dieser Aufsatz untersucht eine der wichtigsten finanziellen Fragen, die sich aus der Sezession oder Teilung eines Landes ergeben, namlich die Beteiligung an der Verschuldung der offentlichen Hand. Die Autoren dehnen den Drezeschen Begriff des distributiven Neutralitatsverhaltnisses auf staatlicher Ebene dahingehend aus, dass sie die Generationen uberspannende Abrechnungstechnik benutzen und ein dynamisches Kriterion der Verschuldigungsbeteiligung vorschlagen, das sowohl die wahre Verschuldung, die zukunftige Generationen erben werden, als auch ihre Zahlungsfahigkeit in Betracht ziehen. Die Entsprechung der Brezeischen statischen Regel wird auch in Abwesenheit regionaler Verschuldung auf dem Wege gleichmassigen Wachstums erreicht. Eine Anwendung des Kriteriums auf den Fall Belgien fuhrt zu bemerkenswerten Ergebnissen. Cattoir P. y Docquier F. (2004) Division de la deuda publica y secesion: un enfoque de contabilidad generacional Reg. Studies38, 293-303. Este articulo investiga uno de los temas financieros mas importantes que emergen a partir de la secesion o de la division de un pais, denominado division de la deuda publica nacional. Ampliando la condicion de neutralidad distributiva de Dreze, utilizamos la tecnica de contabilidad generacional y proponemos un criterio dinamico de la division de la deuda publica que tiene en cuenta tanto la deuda real que heredan las generaciones futuras asi como su capacidad contributiva. La equivalencia con la regla estatica de Dreze solamente se obtiene en la trayectoria de crecimiento equilibrado, y en la ausencia de una deuda regional inicial. La aplicacion de nuestro criterio al caso belga ofrece resultados sorprendentes.Public Debt, Secession, Generational Accounting,