Europe

The UK could be a “serious competitor” to Switzerland as a low-tax business location in a post-Brexit world, Mr Mauer, the Swiss finance minister said: “That is perhaps the chance – that we have a partner in the same position, which on important issues is close to us.”

On Wednesday, UK Prime Minister Theresa May will kick off two years of formal negotiations with 27 EU governments. She still wants tariff-free, friction-less trade with Europe but prioritizes the right to impose immigration limits above all else.

Mr Maurer said: “The UK has lots of advantages and if they are used cleverly to decouple from the EU, as well as the new freedom in a good bilateral relationship, then the UK could develop very positively, I’m convinced of that.” If no favourable deal is struck, the tax rate could be dropped even lower to attract business, chancellor Philip Hammond has recently said.

British prime minister Theresa May will trigger article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, the formal notification of the United Kingdom’s intention to leave the European Union, on March 29th, a spokesman for the British leader said on Monday.
More than 40 years after the UK joined the EU and nine months since it voted to quit it, Britain’s envoy to the bloc, Tim Barrow, informed EU President Donald Tusk on Monday of her plan to invoke Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, the mechanism for quitting that has never been used.

Dan Gramza gives a brief review of the USA grains markets and their relationships with the EU grain markets.

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled on Tuesday that employers can ban staff from wearing visible religious symbols, including headscarves. "An internal rule of an undertaking [firm] which prohibits the visible wearing of any political, philosophical or religious sign does not constitute direct discrimination," the court said.

The ECJ was ruling on a case dating to 2003 when Samira Achbita, a Muslim, was employed as a receptionist by G4S security services in Belgium. At the time, the company had an "unwritten rule" that employees should not wear any political, religious or philosophical symbols at work, the ECJ said.

It is a decade since the start of the financial crisis. What started in the US housing market later engulfed the global economy and is having an enduring legacy on the UK – perhaps most notably on savers.

The Campaign for Real Ale (Camra) is stepping up its push to keep the price of a pint down for millions of UK pub-goers, calling on the Treasury to reduce beer duty by 1p. With inflation expected to rise in the next year, the cut will help to cap the price of beer, keeping more money in consumers’ pockets and helping the pubs and brewing sector to grow.

Beer drinkers are already being hit in the pocket, with Heineken and Carlsberg last month becoming the latest brewers to raise prices, following MolsonCoors – maker of the UK’s most popular beer, Carling – and ABInBev. The weak pound has also driven up the cost of imported raw materials such as hops, which could threaten Britain’s craft beer industry.

The European Parliament has approved a landmark free trade deal with Canada. The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (Ceta) has been seven years in the making and its ratification is set to eliminate almost all trade tariffs between the European Union and Canada.

EU lawmakers backed the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (Ceta) by 408-254 votes despite crowds of protesters contesting the deal outside. All 28 governments will need to give their approval to finalise the process of ratifying the agreement.

“The ratification in all the member states will start, there will be a long process and in most countries without any problems, in some, with more discussions: "We will try to be there, we will try the effects of the Canadian agreement, try to calm some of the concerns,” said EU trade commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom.

The EU is “very disappointed” in the Swiss people’s rejection of the government’s corporate tax reform plan, the EU’s tax commissioner MOscovici said on Monday.

Voters on Sunday blocked the tax system revamp, sending the Swiss government back to the drawing board as it tries to abolish ultra-low tax rates for multinationals without triggering a mass exodus by those companies. "The Commission is very disappointed by the results of a referendum in Switzerland," Moscovici told a news conference.

"The rejection of the reform and referendum means we need to redouble our efforts when it comes to taxation. The Commission plans to consult the member states so we can decide together how to proceed," he said.