Some (large) EU governments are making the case for digital companies to pay "their fair share of tax". The key underlying assumption is that companies in the digital space are not doing so right now. Governments also assume that there is a substantial source of untaxed profits that is waiting...

The European Commission has recently proposed to upend decades of international tax cooperation and introduce a new three percent tax on corporate turnover from digital advertising and online intermediation services. The proposal is not just remarkable for the actual design of the tax; it is...

This study examines the potential gains from a transatlantic zero-tariff agreement on trade in goods. The idea of deeper transatlantic economic integration has become more attractive in recent years. The hopes for an ambitious multilateral trade deal in the Doha Round negotiations have diminished;...

This paper aims to quantify the losses that result from data localisation requirements and related data privacy and security laws that discriminate against foreign suppliers of data, and downstream goods and services providers, using GTAP8. The study looks at the effects of recently proposed or...

A recent study by Capaldo suggests that TTIP would have seriously negative consequences for trade, growth, income and employment in Europe. It has been given a surprising amount of attention, despite the fact that errs on the extreme side of trade estimates. Such serious flaws, however, beset...

International trade is a powerful force of societal transformation. Trade agreements not only stimulated trade; they have improved the quality and integrity of domestic economic and political institutions. This view on trade as a force of institutional development and societal transformation has...

Old beliefs, new symbols, new faces. In 2013, a small group of German green and left-wing activists, professional campaign NGOs and well-established protectionist organisations set up deceptive communication campaigns against TTIP, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership between the...

Covid-19 and its broader implications have highlighted the importance of Europe's digital transformation to ensure Europeans' social and economic well-being. It provides important new learnings about Europe's quest for "technology sovereignty". While the debate about technology sovereignty is...

Corporate tax laws vary significantly between different jurisdictions. Over the past four decades, governments globally competed for business activity by lowering statutory and effective corporate tax rates. Many governments provide special tax incentives for businesses to invest and expand...

In den vergangenen Monaten wurden von einigen führenden Europapolitikern Strategien zur Erreichung einer sog. "europäischen Technologiesouveränität" gefordert. Die Fokussierung auf technologische und zuweilen auch "industrielle Souveränität" durch Politiker in Brüssel, Paris und anderen...