About: Michel Sapin Archives

The European Central Bank is set to decide today (4 May) the fate of the 500-euro banknote, which many people associate with money laundering, the black market and terrorist financing.

The release of the Panama Papers has pushed EU finance ministers into stepping up the fight against tax fraud. However, some of the bloc’s financial chiefs have concerns about the Commission’s proposal to publish the tax records of large companies. EURACTIV Germany reports.

EU’s five leading economies called yesterday (14 April) for a crackdown on tax havens, urging the G20 powers to end the secrecy of shell companies that enables tax evasion and money laundering.

The two leaders are expected to unveil a joint proposal on the future of the eurozone by the end of 2016, once they have set aside their own differences over how to pursue integration. EURACTIV France reports. 

A draft accord to help keep Britain in the European Union is "very fragile", a top EU official warned yesterday (10 February) as France and eastern states pushed for changes before leaders meet to try and seal the deal next week.

France and Germany pressed the European Union yesterday (9 February) to speed up plans designed to crack down on the funding of terrorist groups.

The European Commission will outline an action plan to combat terrorism financing on Tuesday (2 February). But legislative proposals will require more work to minimise possible side effects on the financial sector, EU officials told Euractiv.

France’s effort to intensify the fight against terrorism financing is expected to find a more cautious response from EU institutions and member states at a meeting of EU finance ministers on Friday (15 January).

France's finance minister is pushing for global standards to prevent small, anonymous money transfers believed to be used to finance attacks such as Islamic State's assault on Paris in November.

The French parliament has finally rejected country by country reporting for the activities of the biggest French companies, refusing to get tough on tax optimisation without the involvement of their European partners. EURACTIV France reports.

In the absence of better cooperation from Washington, France wants European countries to set up their own system to track terrorism finance.

France’s budget deficit is unlikely to fall below 3% of GDP by 2017. But the deterioration of Spain's public finances may save Paris the worst criticisms. EURACTIV France reports. 

French MPs have voted to apply the Financial Transaction Tax to day trading, but the Ministry of Finance fears this will cause further delays to European negotiations. EURACTIV France reports. 

Representatives from French and Greek industry associations met in Paris on Monday (28 September), in order to boost investment in Greece's declining economy.

The European Parliament's TAXE committee interviewed the French, Italian, German and Spanish finance ministers on 22 September. They promised to work quickly to adopt the Tax Rulings Directive. EURACTIV France reports. 

French Socialist Party leaders have warned that the multitude of crises currently buffeting the European Union could deal a death blow to the European project. EURACTIV France reports. 

In an interview with Handelsblatt, Michel Sapin said Wolfgang Schäuble was “wrong” about Grexit, but the French-German relationship goes from strength to strength. La Tribune reports.

France wants the eurozone to push for a deal with Greece before Sunday's referendum, President François Hollande said yesterday (1 July), in comments that differed sharply from those of German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Greece will vote on its future in the eurozone on Sunday (5 July). If such a poll were to be conducted across the EU, it is far from certain that a majority would back further concessions to Athens as the price for keeping the Union intact. The EURACTIV Network reports.

France's Socialists want to keep Greece in the fold, but the party’s left wing believes the government is not doing enough to avoid Grexit. EURACTIV France reports.

In an unusual move that underlined frustration with the Greek government, the European Commission published on Sunday (28 June) what it said were the last proposals creditors made to Athens before Greece broke off funding talks. Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker will speak to the press today at noon.

Greek lawmakers on Sunday (28 June) authorised Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras' proposed 5 July bailout referendum, setting Greece on course for a plebiscite that has enraged international creditors and increased Greece's chances of exiting the eurozone.

The fraudulent posting of workers has become an urgent problem for the EU. France has laid out new measures in the Macron bill to clamp down on its 300,000 illegally posted workers. La Tribune reports.

SPECIAL REPORT / Greek Minister of Finance Yanis Varoufakis is confident on reaching an agreement soon, as talks are progressing with international creditors.