The germanophone Ministers of Finance, namely from Germany, Liechtenstein, Austria, and Switzerland came to Luxembourg for discussions on fiscal challenges.
At the informal meeting, ministers discussed global solutions to fiscal challenges emerging from the digital economy. Cryptocurrencies were at the centre of the discussion following the development of Facebook’s project for its own cryptocurrency named Libra. The ministers were in agreement that these new transaction methods may represent new challenges, but should also be considered new opportunities.
Equally, the German-speaking ministers discussed the desire shown by the current system under the G2 or the OECD to tax certain businesses. The move would have repercussions on the five countries at the meeting, whose ministers shared their views on the project.
The ministers also visited the town of Schengen and the Schengen museum to reiterate the importance of the Schengen area, to which all five countries belong. The topic of European integration led to the discussion on mobility within the EU and specifically mechanisms to improve cross-border mobility for workers. Gramegna highlighted that the meeting of the German-speaking Ministers of Finance is a “unique and important platform” which allows the countries to share experience in terms of fiscal and financial policies.
The 2020 meeting will take place in Austria.
