The European Commission has received no ‘well-founded’ complaints alleging Gibraltar’s failure to cooperate on tax, financial and money-laundering matters, according to Michel Barnier, the Commissioner for Internal Market and Services. In response to questions in the European Parliament, Mr Barnier also confirmed that Gibraltar was fully up to date with the transposition of EU legislation in all three fields, according to a report from the Chronicle.
Argentina's clash with Uruguay over the Botnia/UPM pulp mill has led to furious retaliations from Buenos Aires severely limiting trade and not allowing Argentine exporters to make use of the port of Montevideo for transshipment.
The administration of President Cristina Fernandez is preparing a package of measures in an attempt to further impede the outflow of hard currency, mainly US dollars, for which it is planning to establish a double exchange rate system. The measures target tourism, a bill of 8 billion dollars which has become dearer than the energy deficit.
Argentina Secretary of Domestic Trade Guillermo Moreno anticipated that the current policy implementing obstacles to contain foreign trade will continue to promote the domestic market and production, and ”because I follow the orders from the President (Cristina Fernandez)”.
The Uruguayan government announced it has renewed until 2016 Botnia/UPM pulp mill license so it can continue with production since it complies with the necessary environmental requisites and is committed to the additional standards demanded, said Housing and Environment minister Francisco Beltrame.
Panama reaffirmed its support for Argentina and its sovereignty claim over the Falklands/Malvinas Islands following on a complaint from Buenos Aires regarding a trip of Panamanian lawmakers to the Islands invited by the local government
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) approved a private sector loan for up to 132.6 million to partially finance the construction of the Carapé I and II wind farms in Uruguay.
A US appeals court said on Friday it would leave a freeze in place on an order requiring Argentina to pay 1.33 billion dollars to bondholders suing for full face repayment in the wake of the country’s 2002 default.
Germany and Brazil circulated a draft resolution to a U.N. General Assembly committee on Friday that calls for an end to excessive electronic surveillance, data collection and other gross invasions of privacy. The draft resolution does not name any specific countries, although U.N. diplomats said it was clearly aimed at the United States, which has been embarrassed by revelations of a massive international surveillance program from a former US contractor.
Former Paraguayan president Nicanor Duarte Frutos is scheduled to arrive this week in Buenos Aires where he will be taking the post of ambassador in Argentina one of the most politically important for the land-locked country.