EU bulletin 29th January 2016 Fighting for a single market online across Europe

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker supports forcing multinational companies like Google, Amazon, and Apple to publish the profits they make and the taxes they pay in each EU country they operate in, according to an exclusive report in EurActiv: http://www.euractiv.com/sections/euro-finance/juncker-backs-forcing-multinational-companies-publish-their-tax-bills-321413#

EUobserver also deals with tax avoidance. It says the European Commission presented on Thursday (28 January) a package of proposals obliging large companies to pay taxes in the EU countries where they make a profit. The package includes an anti-tax avoidance directive to impose coordinated anti-abuse measures to all member states, a recommendation that member states revise their tax treaties and a plan to revise the black list of tax havens outside the EU: https://euobserver.com/economic/132047

European Union officials want uniform rules [on the taxation of multinationals like Google], but many countries prefer to use tax policies to reward or punish big multinationals, according to a report in the New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/29/business/international/taxing-google-and-other-us-giants-is-dividing-europe.html?emc=edit_ee_20160129&nl=todaysheadlines-europe&nlid=74103272

EU trade commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom signalled openness to recognising China as a market economy, but said the EU was looking into the implications and which rules could be used to protect European businesses from excessive dumping of cheap goods by China, EUobserver reports: https://euobserver.com/eu-china/132051

After a meeting of the Competitiveness Council in Amsterdam today (28 January), European Commission Vice President Andrus Ansip vowed to stop e-commerce businesses from geo-blocking customers, or keeping them from shopping online at local prices by rerouting them to different websites. EurActiv reports: http://www.euractiv.com/sections/digital/commission-propose-may-ending-geo-blocking-online-sales-321406

EU countries which have established strong trade relationships with the US are likely to profit most from the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. But the deal could also benefit those with more limited economic ties, if the Union deepens its internal market, a new study reported in EurActive has found: http://www.euractiv.com/sections/trade-society/member-states-long-standing-us-trade-ties-gain-most-ttip-321412

Around 90 percent of people seeking refuge in the EU in December come from war-torn nations, contradicting earlier statements from EU commission
vice-president Frans Timmermans, EUobserver reports: https://euobserver.com/migration/132048

Pro-refugee parties are on the rise in Denmark, but the Social Democrat party recorded a historic blow, losing a quarter of its support in just two months, EUobserver reports. The Danish parliament, on Tuesday, by 81 to 27, passed a controversial bill allowing police to seize personal valuables of asylum seekers to cover the cost of their stay: https://euobserver.com/beyond-brussels/132052

The European Commission wants to build "bridges" between agriculture and the ICT sector in order to better address the environmental challenges of farming, according to a special report in EurActiv: http://www.euractiv.com/sections/agriculture-and-climate-change-role-new-cap/commission-promotes-smart-farming-mitigate#

The European Commission will issue guidelines to member states in early March on how to regulate emerging companies like Uber and Airbnb, which have shaken up the taxi and hotel sector, EurActiv reports: http://www.euractiv.com/sections/digital/brussels-issue-new-guidelines-sharing-economy-321368