Luxembourg Financial Centre to See Sustainable Change

Luxembourg's Ministry of Finance has confirm that, at this year's meeting of the German-speaking finance ministers in Liechtenstein on 23 - 24 August, 2021, the participants from Germany, Liechtenstein, Austria, Switzerland and Luxembourg agreed that they want to drive forward sustainable change in the financial centres.

Luxembourg's Minister of Finance, Pierre Gramegna, represented the Grand Duchy during the meeting in Vaduz. This offered the Austrian Finance Minister Gernot Blümel, the Swiss Federal Councillor Ueli Maurer, the host and head of government of Liechtenstein, Daniel Risch, as well as Pierre Gramegna and the German State Secretary Rolf Bösinger, the opportunity to discuss a whole range of topics in a small group, and also maintain personal contacts.

On the agenda this year were the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on national budgets, as well as the next steps by the OECD in the area of ​​taxation of the digital economy. Minister Gramegna commented “Luxembourg welcomes the OECD plans for global tax reform, on which we are proactively working. We continue to advocate adhering to the ambitious timetable so that a final agreement can be reached in October at the OECD ministerial meeting under the Luxembourg Vice-Presidency."

The ministers exchanged views on the COVID-19 measures and support programmes that could cushion the immediate effects of the crisis and stimulate the economy in their respective countries. They also underlined the importance of healthy public finances in this pandemic. At the suggestion of Minister Gramegna, the short-time working programmes were analysed in more detail and the ministers agreed to further coordinate their measures over the next few months during their term.

In the area of ​​sustainable finance, Minister Gramegna called for the financial actors to be further involved in the process of change and for the problem of “stranded assets” to be tackled proactively. The Luxembourg Minister of Finance stressed that the EU should raise the bar as high as possible when adopting future delegated acts of the Taxonomy Regulation. He also indicated that including nuclear energy in the EU Taxonomy Regulation would seriously undermine the credibility of these European standards for both investors and the public. Finally, the participants discussed the proposal to create a new EU anti-money laundering agency, which Pierre Gramegna welcomed.

At the start of the two-day visit, the Liechtenstein head of government and finance minister Daniel Risch received his guests in the government building. There he had to inform her about the death of the Liechtenstein princess Marie and called for a minute's silence. Due to the planned state mourning, the planned visit to Vaduz Castle was cancelled. However, the delegation was able to take part in a tour of the Thyssenkrupp Presta AG plant in Eschen.

Minister Gramegna commented “The meeting of German-speaking finance ministers has brought together major financial centres in Luxembourg since it began in 2010. It offers a unique platform on which German-speaking countries can also exchange ideas about international developments in bodies such as the EU or the G20, to which not all participating countries have access. Especially in view of the rapid developments in the tax area and the far-reaching financial consequences of the not yet completely overcome COVID pandemic, the meeting of German-speaking finance ministers is a very appreciated date because it enables not only professional exchange, but also personal contact."

The next meeting of the German-speaking finance ministers will take place in Switzerland in August 2022.