Netherlands and Luxembourgih: Starbucks, Fiat Decisions Seen in First Wave of EU Tax Cases - by Stephanie Bodoni Gaspard Sebag

Starbucks Corp. and a Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV unit are set to be first in the firing line as European Union regulators issue a series of rulings over tax breaks for global companies, including Apple Inc.

The EU may issue decisions against Starbucks and Fiat as soon as next week following a two-year probe into how the companies may have gotten unfair tax treatment from Dutch and Luxembourgih authorities, people familiar with the cases said.

Speculation about the probes intensified.,this week as Margrethe Vestager, the EU’s competition chief, canceled a scheduled visit to China, citing pressing matters relating to her job.

Decisions on whether iPhone maker Apple and Amazon.com Inc. got sweetheart tax deals from Ireland and Luxembourg are expected at a later date, said the people who asked not to be identified because the decision isn’t public.

Read more: Starbucks, Fiat Decisions Seen in First Wave of EU Tax Cases - Bloomberg Business

Terrorism: U.K. Extends Passport Powers To Block Teenagers Joining Terrorist Groups - by Jack Moore

British parents will be able to request the cancellation of the passports of their older teenage children if they have fears that they are being radicalized and might travel abroad to join a terrorist group, Prime Minister David Cameron will announce on Monday.

Parents already have had the ability to request the cancellation of the passports of their children aged under 16—a measure that Cameron's office said has been used a number of times, according to the BBC—and new proposals extend the measure to children aged 17 and under.

The aim of the extension of the power is to prevent teenagers traveling to join terrorist groups, particularly in Iraq and Syria, such as ISIS and Al-Qaeda-linked groups such as the Nusra Front.

Note EU-Digest: Excellent move: should be adopted throughout the EU 

Read more: U.K. Extends Passport Powers To Block Teenagers Joining Terrorist Groups

Amnesty International: Merkel should speak up for human rights in Turkey

Amnesty International (AI) on Saturday called on German ChancellorAngela Merkel to directly address the issue of human rights during her upcoming visit to Turkey.

The human rights group also criticized the EU's proposal of financial aid and concessions to Turkey to contain the mass movement of asylum seekers to Europe.

"Angela Merkel must insist that Turkey cleans up its act before treating it as a reliable partner in the EU's border management," said Andrew Gardner, Amnesty International's Turkey researcher.

"Talks between the EU and Turkey... risk putting the rights of refugees a distant second behind border control measures designed to prevent refugees from reaching the EU," Gardner argued.

AI also noted flaws in Turkey's human rights record, saying Merkel should not remain silent on the matter in talks with Turkish leaders.

Note EU-Digest: Absolutely - Merkel should not start discussions wirh Turkey about anything unless Turkey complies with human rights demands and after Turkish elections produce a more democratic government.

Amnesty: Merkel should speak up for human rights in Turkey | News | DW.COM | 17.10.2015

Health Care: UK end-of-life care 'best in world' - by Nick Triggle

End-of-life care in the UK has been ranked as the best in the world with a study praising the quality and availability of services.

The study of 80 countries said thanks to the NHS and hospice movement the care provided was "second to none".

Rich nations tended to perform the best - with Australia and New Zealand ranked second and third respectively.

But the report by the Economist Intelligence Unit praised progress made in some of the poorest countries.

For example Mongolia - ranked 28th - has invested in hospice facilities, while Uganda - 35th - has managed to improve access to pain control through a public-private partnership.

Read more: UK end-of-life care 'best in world' - BBC News

EU Social Dimenson: Reviving The EU Social Dimension: A Political Choice

The social dimension of the EU is on the verge of becoming insignificant. At practically all levels there has been a systematic weakening of Social Europe: aims, programmes and instruments have been reduced in the areas of employment policy, labour law and labour relations.

The Community is rolling back previous achievements. Workers and trade unions are losing out. This is particularly evident in three areas.

First, in the euro crisis the European Employment Strategy and the Open Method of Coordination were systematically subordinated to economic-policy aims. In the European Semester – the annual process of co-ordinating EU Member States’ economic policies – the economic and finance ministers have their hands firmly on the tiller. Half of all labour market and social policy recommendations for the Member States are based on legal provisions in the Stability and Growth Pact or the Macroeconomic Imbalance Procedure. Thus, they come within the competence of finance ministers.

Labour and social affairs ministers are marginalised when it comes to their proper concerns. The upshot of all this is recommendations to deregulate national labour markets, decentralise wage systems and restructure social insurance in line with budgetary criteria. The social partners, generally speaking, have weak consultation rights. Trade unions are bypassed.

The EU’s labour market and social policy measures have long amounted to a comprehensive “labour market strategy”. Acknowledging this reality would be a first step for social policy actors towards a stronger say. Instead of continuing to put up with the thematic constriction of the European Employment Strategy the relevant ministers should insist on equal footing with finance ministers. In an era of European inter-governmentalism, a Eurogroup of social and labour ministers is their best bet.

Read more: Reviving The EU Social Dimension: A Political Choice

Turkey - Migrant crisis: EU backs Turkey action plan

EU states have backed an action plan with Turkey, which it is hoped will ease the flow of migrants to Europe.

Nearly 600,000 migrants have reached the EU by sea so far this year, many of them travelling from Turkey.

The leaders agreed to speed up visa liberalisation talks for Turks if Turkey stems the influx and to "re-energise" talks on it joining the EU.

However, the Turkish foreign minister said the deal was still a draft and had not been agreed upon.
Feridun Sinirlioglu called the financial measures proposed by the EU "unacceptable", according to AFP news agency.

Meanwhile a migrant thought to be Afghan was shot dead by a Bulgarian border guard after entering the country from Turkey late on Thursday.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov left the Brussels talks on hearing the news.

Also on Friday, Hungary announced it was going to seal its border with Croatia at midnight (22:00 GMT) following a similar move last month to close its border with Serbia.

Read more: Migrant crisis: EU backs Turkey action plan - BBC News

Global Economy: Half of world's wealth now in hands of 1% of population – by Jill Treanor

Global inequality is growing, with half the world’s wealth now in the hands of just 1% of the population, according to a new report.

The middle classes have been squeezed at the expense of the very rich, according to research by Credit Suisse, which also finds that for the first time, there are more individuals in the middle classes in China – 109m – than the 92m in the US.

Tidjane Thiam, the chief executive of Credit Suisse, said: “Middle class wealth has grown at a slower pace than wealth at the top end. This has reversed the pre-crisis trend which saw the share of middle-class wealth remaining fairly stable over time.”

The report shows that a person needs only $3,210 (£2,100) to be in the wealthiest 50% of world citizens.

About $68,800 secures a place in the top 10%, while the top 1% have more than $759,900. The report defines wealth as the value of assets including property and stock market investments, but excludes debt.
About 3.4 bn people – just over 70% of the global adult population – have wealth of less than $10,000. A further 1bn – a fifth of the world’s population – are in the $10,000-$100,000 range.

Each of the remaining 383m adults – 8% of the population – has wealth of more than $100,000. This number includes about 34m US dollar millionaires. About 123,800 individuals of these have more than $50m, and nearly 45,000 have more than $100m. The UK has the third-highest number of these “ultra-high net worth” individuals.

Read more: Half of world's wealth now in hands of 1% of population – report | Money | The Guardian