Newsletter: March 2010
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
"Governments are facing a clear choice. They can act decisively and together to fix a broken global economy and thus fulfill their responsibility to govern in the interests of people, or they may choose to dodge that responsibility and do what the banks are telling them to do. [...] There is a real possibility of extreme social tension or worse if governments continue to put the interests of banks and finance ahead of jobs and social justice,” said the General Secretary of ITUC, Guy Ryder.
To read the whole article, see: http://www.ituc-csi.org/g7-finance-meeting-must-resist.html
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FINANCIAL REGULATION WATCHDOG
Financial transaction Tax to Dampen Speculation and Pay for the Crisis
A globally implemented tax to discourage excessive risk-taking by financial institutions and to ensure the industry pays for the damage caused by the financial crisis should be considered, believes Parliament's Economic Affairs Committee. If a worldwide tax proves unachievable, the EU could consider going it alone, say the MEPs.
For the full article, see: http://europeansforfinancialreform.org/en/news/financial-transaction-tax-dampen-speculation-and-pay-crisis
Make Tax Work! Scrap banking secrecy to end tax evasion worth €200 billion
The European Parliament has backed S&D Group's calls for an end to banking secrecy in order to strengthen the fight against tax evasion, estimated to cost €200 billion a year. Two reports adopted in Strasbourg were presented by S&D members Magdalena Alvarez of Spain and Leonardo Domenici of Italy, calling for automatic exchange of information between tax authorities in member states and better governance in the policy.
For more news, visit our webpage: http://europeansforfinancialreform.org/en/news-press
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TAKE ACTION!
Show us your support and follow different groups campaigning for the regulation of the financial markets on Facebook. For example, you can join the group "Regulate Global Finance NOW!" and the group "Robin Hood Tax". Be aware of the newest headings, initiate discussions and exchange thoughts with others.
Also, to know more on the Financial Transaction Tax, click here: http://europeansforfinancialreform.org/en/stop-speculation/know-more
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EVENTS TO COME: REGISTER NOW FOR THE HIGH LEVEL CONFERENCE ON THE FINANCIAL TRANSACTION TAX!
On March 1st and March 18th, there are Special Committees on the Financial, Economic and Social Crisis.
On March 4th, it will be the launch of the EFFR campaign, Regulate Global Finance Now, in Austria. For more information, see: http://europeansforfinancialreform.org/en/events/launch-effr-campaign-regulate-global-finance-now-austria
On March 15th, there will be a High Level Conference on the Financial Transaction Tax: "Fighting for a Financial Transaction Tax - how and why?” in the Solvay Library, Brussels. For the programme, see: http://europeansforfinancialreform.org/en/system/files/Programme.pdf
To register to the event, please send an e-mail to the following address: pamela.stewart@europarl.europa.eu
For other events, see the calendar on our website: http://europeansforfinancialreform.org/en/calendar
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THEY JOINED THE CAMPAIGN
Unite is Britain's biggest union with almost two million members. It was formed by a merger between two of Britain's' leading unions, the T&G and Amicus. It was created to meet the great challenges facing working people in the 21st century. It is a democratic and campaigning union which fights back for employees in the workplace. Unite always stands up for equality for all and advances its members interests politically. Unite's presence in every type of workplace covering all industrial, occupational and professional sector of the economy is a good illustration of its overall activity.
http://www.unitetheunion.org/sectors.aspx
Unite is also active on a global scale building ever stronger links with trade unions around the world to confront the challenges of the globalised economy. Besides, in 2008 Unite and USW (United Steel Workers - North America's largest private sector Union) have created the World's first Global Union: Workers Uniting. For more information, see: http://www.workersuniting.org/
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THEY FORMED A COALITION
The S&D Group, the PES and the European Green Party are now part of the coalition of Europeans for Financial Reform. For more information, see: http://europeansforfinancialreform.org/en/coalition