Conservatives condemn Gibraltar tax ruling
Posted,11/15/2011 3:00:00 PM
The three Conservative MEPs representing Gibraltar today condemned a European legal ruling that the Rock must abandon a competitive business tax regime which has seen it become a burgeoning hub for financial services and internet transactions in recent years. In a joint statement, Giles Chichester, Ashley Fox and Julie Girling said: "We are dismayed that Gibraltarians' growing prosperity, which has bucked the Erupean trend, will be undermined by this attack on their right to set tax levels as they please. It is deeply regrettable that the European Court of Justice has chosen not to back people's freedoms. The decision by the court in Strasbourg is the latest in a saga that began in 2002 when the UK first informed the European Commission that Gibraltar was to introduce a business-tax regime based on payroll and property-use in the overseas territory and which effectiveley capped corporation tax at 15 per cent of profits. In 2004 the Commission ruled the tax system must be scrapped as it amounted to unlawful state aid that was incompatible with the common market. Gibraltar and the UK appealed against the ruling and the Court of First Instance ruled in their favour in 2004. The court said Gibraltar's Government had set the tax in a manner that was institutionally, procedurally and financially independent of the UK - so it was wrong to suggest that the UK was involved in the decision or was involved in any in wayin offsetting it. The lower court also ruled that the Commision had not followed proper procedure in declaring the regime illegal. An appeal against that decision by the Commission led to a new hearing and today's judgment. The MEPs, whose Euro-constituency is named the South West England and Gibraltar, said: "We know Gibraltarians well and while they are proudly British and loyal to the Crown, they are also very quick to assert their democratic independence, their right to self-determination and their right to set their own laws and taxes. "Unfortunately the court has not vindicated those rights and has allowed Gibraltar to be victimised by the Commission."
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Energy: we will fight Brussels control freaks
Posted,9/8/2011 1:00:00 PM
Conservative MEPs have vowed to fight a European Commission bid to control and vet all major energy deals between EU states and other countries such as Libya or Russia. Under new rules proposed by German energy Commissioner Gunther Oettinger, European governments negotiating energy agreements with non-EU states would have to submit them to Brussels for approval by the commission. EU officials are also demanding the right to sit in on negotiations. Giles Chichester, Conservative spokesman on energy in the European Parliament, condemned the proposal as "the worst kind of meddling." He said: "Our energy arrangements are Britain's own business, not the commission's. This is an attempt to control and interfere with our individual trading interests on a new and deeply worrying scale. The Commission is up to its old empire-building tricks. "The proposals pose all sorts of worrying questions about business confidentiality, commercial sensitivity and the fairness of any bidding process." "Russia is the EU's biggest source of gas and several European states including UK are already poised to compete for oil partnerships in the new Libya. The Oettinger scheme could also restrict British exports as a tenth of domestic oil production is currently exported outside the EU. And what about Nordstream?" Mr Oettinger's proposal insisted the sweeping new powers were needed to ensure deals complied with EU law, especially as energy shortage became a pressure on governments to accept regulatory concessions. But Mr Chichester, Conservative MEP for south west England, said: "It is the worst kind of meddling by the commission's control freaks. Given the depth of the eurozone's currency crisis, you would have thought the commission would have had other priorities. But Mr Oettinger is fiddling while the euro burns. "This is on a par with the proposal from his predecessor in the Prodi commission to intervene on oil stocks. We managed a majority in the parliament to reject that draft dieactive as a solution to a problem that didn´t exist. I hope we won´t have to do it all over again."
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Conservative MEP welcomes UK nuclear industry all-clear
Posted,5/18/2011 12:00:00 AM
Whilst we must learn lessons from the Japanese nuclear disaster, today's interim report by Dr Mike Weightman is a welcome affirmation that the UK's nuclear industry is well-regulated and a viable way of achieving a low-carbon energy future, Giles Chichester MEP, Conservative energy spokesman in the European Parliament, said today.
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CONSERVATIVE MEP WELCOMES EU COURT DECISION TO UPHOLD ROAMING CAP ON NETWORKS
Posted,6/8/2010 12:00:00 AM
Conservative Industry spokesman in Brussels Giles Chichester welcomed the European Court of Justice ruling today that EU Roaming regulation is valid.
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European money for electricity interconnector welcomed
Posted,12/18/2009 12:00:00 AM
European money for electricity interconnector welcomed
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