Buy Buy Europe 3: Tax Haven Europe

About the series

A strong, liberal economy was the goal of the European Union. The introduction of the Euro would deliver new prosperity for everybody. But the credit crunch and the debt crisis followed by the big recession exposed that, according to the makers of the series, the Europen Union is an union of competition and inequality. In this web series we will explore who is winning and who is losing in the euro crisis. How did it come this far, and most of all, what kind of Europe do we want?

Tax Haven Europe

The 80s fiscal revolution resulted in governing tax advantages in Europe. These advantages for the European elite were based on the logic that the elite is creating wealth, which the rest of the population could profit from as well. However, the wealth is not distributed equally, but remains concentrated around the elite. This third part of the series discusses the facilitation of self-preservation of the European elite, and the thin line between fraud and fiscal optimization.

Economic interest

This episode discusses certain tax havens in Europe. A tax haven is a territory where certain taxes are levied at a low rate or not at all. As a result, individuals or corporations can find it attractive to move themselves to areas with reduced or nil taxation levels. This creates a situation of tax among governments, and within the European Union. It is often proposed that the EU adopt a form of fiscal union. Most member states of the EU participate in economic and monetary union based on the Euro currency, but most decisions about taxes and spending remain at the national level. Therefore, although the European Union has a monetary union, it does not have a fiscal union.