A new strategy against fiscal fraud has been implemented by the Council of the European Union. The new agenda proposed by the EU Commission which is called “Fiscalis 2013” is to improve the co-operation between fiscal authorities and support them in monitoring that the tax rules are more observed by companies. Fiscalis 2013 will also introduce the electronic data exchange between tax authorities. more…

According to provisional figures by the Federal Statistical Office, there were about 40.26 million gainfully employed people in Germany in October 2007. This is an increase of 688.000 or 1.7% as compared to October 2006. Compared to September this year the number of gainfully employed people rose by 207.000 or +0.5%. more…

According to provisional figures provided by the Federal Statistical Office, the turnover generated by whole sale traders in Germany was 4.5% and 1.8% higher in nominal and real terms respectively in October 2007 as compared to October last year. Compared to September this year, turnover increased by 1.4% and 0.6% respectively. more…

Judging by what was announced by the “Innovation Indicator 2007″ published by the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW), Germany is close to the top of the list of most innovative countries. According to the study, Germany is in 8th position among 17 selected European and non-European countries. Even though last year Germany came 7th, the gap to the respective most innovative countries (i.e. the USA in 2006 and Sweden in 2007) could be slightly reduced. more…

More and more German companies make use of the possibility to deal online with public authorities. As was communicated by the Federal Statistical Office, about 49% of companies with internet access resorted to online services provided by public authorities. This is an increase of 18 percent as compared to the previous year. Most of the time it is blanks which are downloaded (81%) and information which is collected (73%). more…

As was reported by the German Federal Statistical Office the German consumer price index will probably increase to 3.0% in November 2007 as compared to November last year. This is the biggest increase since February 1994. Last month the inflation rate had been just 2.4%. These figures are provisional for the time being. more…

The EU´s Chamber of Commerce and Industry in China has published its annual business climate index in co-operation with Roland Berger Strategy Consultants. This index is based on the interviewing of more than 200 European companies operating in China. More than 80% are active in China in order to gain market entry and to win customers there. 69% of European companies are planning to increase their investments in China over the next two years. These are also ready to invest in centres of research and development. more…

In 2007 Germans increasingly used the internet when planning their trips. One quarter (24%) booked at least one product online. In this context, the focus is not so much on package trips but on individual parts of travels. Thus, 12% of Germans bought a flight ticket online in 2007, 11% booked a hotel room and 6% bought a train ticket online. more…

According to the Federal Statistical Office, in October 2007 the import price index was 2.3 percent higher than in October of the previous year. The increase is, however, mainly a consequence of the so-called basic effect. Compared to September 2007 the import price index increased by 0.7% in October. The export price index, on the other hand, was up by 1.3% in October as compared to the same month last year and 0.1% higher than in September this year. more…

On December 11th 2007 the Steinbeis-Europa-Zentrum in co-operation with the ministry of economics in Baden-Wurttemberg will host an international conference dealing with the issues of innovation and clusters. The objective of the conference is to bring together regional and European decision makers from the fields of innovation and technology transfer. more…