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Switzerland will not negotiate banking secrecy
European Union and Swiss leaders convened for summit
talks to thrash out a long-awaited deal on offshore
tax fraud that will in return see the Alpine state
join the bloc's passport-free zone.
The 25-nation EU resolved its own differences on the tax
accord last week and now wants Switzerland to sign on the
line so that it can implement new rules on secret bank accounts
after nearly a decade of talks.
Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey last week hailed
the EU breakthrough as "an important political step".
But she warned, "We will not negotiate on banking secrecy".
The EU wants to clamp down on savings held by its residents
in countries and territories beyond the reach of its tax authorities
and must reach a deal with Switzerland by June to allow the
accord to take effect in January 2005.
The EU has reached a compromise that will enable Austria,
Belgium and Luxembourg, which are keen to protect their own
banking industries, to continue confidential banking in return
for levying a tax on the secret accounts.
Switzerland had agreed to do the same, but then linked agreement
to its own demands for entry to the EU's Schengen system of
free movement of people, which has abolished passport controls
among participating member states.
Switzerland wanted an exemption from judicial cooperation
in financial crimes that may in future apply to the 15-nation
Schengen group. Unlike the EU, the country does not recognise
tax evasion as a crime.
Big Brother UK
The UK is set to implement a new biometric ID card
and passport system. The system is designed to
link a person to a particular ID card by matching
their biometric characteristics to data stored
either on the card or on a central database.
A biometric is a unique measure of some facet of a person’s
body- such as a fingerprint or iris scans - and by 2005, the
International Civil Aviation Organisation wants such data
incorporated into newly issued passports. As well, the UK
government wants it in ID cards from 2007 onward.
A person enrolling into a biometric scheme based on iris
recognition, for example, will first peer into an infrared
scanner, which records an image of one of their irises. This
is then processed to convert it into a string of digits -
that person's 'biometric reference template'. This is then
stored on a central database, as in the proposed UK system,
or on the individual's ID card. Later, when that person needs
to prove their identity, a fresh scan is taken and processed
and the resulting data is matched to the stored reference
template. If the two are sufficiently similar, the ID is authenticated.
An exact match is not required, because there are always likely
to be some differences between scans, caused by variations
in measurement conditions, like lighting.
The danger, security experts say however, is that if someone's
reference template were to be captured it could be used illicitly.
For example, a criminal could simply send the template to
a service provider such as a bank as if it had originated
from a scanner. Brussels lifts ban on GM foods
The EU's executive commission endorsed an application
by Swiss biotech company Syngenta to import a
genetically modified (GM) sweetcorn, BT-11, into
the 25-nation bloc.
"The BT-11 application was approved by the
commission," said Beate Gminder, a spokeswoman
for EU health commissioner David Byrne.
Syngenta was given approval to import the GM tinned
sweetcorn into the 25-nation bloc for 10 years,
provided the cans are clearly labeled as containing
GM products.
A number of other companies are hoping to follow
the trail blazed by Syngenta. The EU is analysing
another 33 applications for the breeding or cultivation
of GM crops in Europe.
The decision on whether to lift the moratorium
in place since 1999 was passed back to the commission
after EU member states failed last month to break
a deadlock on the issue.
But there is little public appetite among Europeans
for "Frankenfoods" with one EU survey
suggesting that more than 70 per cent of Europeans
oppose GM products.
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