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Pictured: Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, speaks at a press conference in Brussels on 12 December 2017. Barnier has reportedly been instructed to take a hard line with Britain over immigration and trade during the post-Brexit transition period. Photo credit: European Council 

EU to take stronger stance in Brexit talks

Brussels is expected to take a tougher line in negotiations with the UK over the Brexit transition period, the Financial Times reported. The bloc will demand that the UK grant free movement rights to all EU citizens arriving in Britain before the end of the transition period. The EU will also require the UK to receive explicit permission to continue using European trade deals with other countries, such as Canada and Korea. In addition, Brussels will insist that current fishing quotas remain intact, the FT said. Britain is set to leave the union in March 2019, but is currently in talks to be a quasi-member for a further two years.

Luxembourg on the Sunny side of Brexit

“Luxembourg and Sweden have joined Spain and the Netherlands in wanting a post-Brexit agreement which includes both goods and services,” according to The Sun, as opposed to France and Germany’s “hardline Brexit stance”. The British tabloid quoted Luxembourg’s prime minister, Xavier Bettel, as saying: “Most would be happy to stick as close as possible to the current status quo.”

EU to take Panama off tax haven blacklist

EU finance ministers are expected to remove 8 of the 17 jurisdictions on the bloc’s blacklist of tax havens later this month, according to Reuters. Panama, South Korea and the UAE are among the countries that have “offered to change their tax rules”, which led EU officials to recommend delisting, the news agency said. The blacklist was published last December following the revelations of multinational tax avoidance, such as the Panama Papers and Luxleaks. Activists have argued that EU member states, including Luxembourg and the Netherlands, should have been included on the blacklist.

European wealth planning deal

OneLife, the Luxembourg-based life assurer, has struck a deal with the Federation of European Independent Financial Advisors “to provide insurance-based wealth planning solutions to its members”, International Adviser reported.

Satellite news

SES said its SES-15 satellite had entered service. It will be used to deliver in-flight data and connectivity, as well as provide better GPS tracking, to aircraft flying in the Americas. Separately, Planetary Resources, the US space mining company with Luxembourg operations, successfully launched its Arkyd-6 CubeSat, said TechCrunch.