EU-UK relations; UK plans to revoke EU laws could be extremely harmful to the UK

Plans by the British government to revoke or amend hundreds of European Union laws on its statute book could have a "negative impact on trade", Brussels has warned.

Speaking at the EU-UK Forum's annual conference on Monday, European Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič said Brussels is following the evolution of the Retained EU Law through the British parliamentary process "extremely, extremely closely."

"I understand that (a) big part of the audience who is following this conference would like to see more seamless trade, less friction, less complication but it's very difficult to achieve that if the decision is to just simply go for more divergence or if, let's say, the law which we've been building together for many, many decades and underpins some of the fundamentals of the Withdrawal Agreement and TCA [The EU-Uk Trade and Cooperation Agreement]  would be thrown into the shredders."

Read more at:https://www.euronews.com

The Netherlands: New government under pressure over dividend tax ' corporate blackmail' claims

Rutte:"Being good to corporations is good for Holland"

MPs have called on prime minister Mark Rutte to explain the new government’s decision to scrap the tax on dividends for a second time, amid mounting reports that Shell and Unilever put pressure on the coalition negotiators.

The move to scrap the tax, which will cost the treasury €1.4bn and only benefit foreign firms, was not included in any of the party manifestos and has been condemned by opposition parties.

Broadcaster NOS reported earlier on Thursday that it had been told Anglo Dutch firms Shell and Unilever and two other companies had urged the new coalition to scrap the tax. ‘There was a real threat that a couple of bigger Dutch firms would go to London,’

NOS correspondent Ron Fresen said. Shell and Unilever have headquarters in both the Netherlands and Britain and both have been considering their position in a post-Brexit economy. Shell said on Wednesday it welcomed the new government’s decision.

It has campaigned for the tax to be scrapped for at least 10 years. Unilever has said it will decide by the end of the year whether or not to keep its dual headquarter structure. The company has also said that it is pleased with all measures which strengthen the Netherlands’ position as an international business centre. Jobs

Prime minister Mark Rutte has said repeatedly that the measure is needed to keep jobs and to make sure the Netherlands remains an attractive location for foreign firms.

However, leading economists and the government’s own macro-economic think-tank CPB have also questioned the move. During Thursday’s debate, GroenLinks (Greens) popular  leader Jesse Klaver said the government had laid itself open to being ‘blackmailed’ by big companies.

Read more: New government under pressure over dividend tax 'blackmail' claims - DutchNews.nl