Re: Haha - back to the communist economical theory
If the Netherlands are a lynchpin in arrangements like Double Dutch Irish Sandwiches, the Dutch 'Foundation' system etc, the pressure should be on the Dutch government to change its tax laws to make such things impossible or unprofitable (and I have it from several Dutch citizens that their government will still prefer not to rock the boat because in their view 1% of a decent-sized pie is still better than 15% of a smaller pie or no pie at all).
While it's easy to say 'oh, let's tax Google et al 2% of turnover', the more difficult question then becomes 'who gets what size cut of the 2% pie'... You can be guaranteed that there'll be a lot more squabbling going on then... especially when it then becomes clear that those countries with large offices (like Germany with Berlin, Munich and Frankfurt, France with Paris, Italy with Rome, and the UK with London) are the ones getting the most dosh and the other EU26 countries lose out.
But hey, it's easy to take 'leaks' like this one from the French finance minister as truth when the story is much more complex.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
